The new self-service process was featured by Katekavia (ZF), a subsidiary of Utair, one of Russia’s biggest airlines.
Passengers on the Tupolev 134 in Igarka, a small town in the far north of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, learned that their plane had become stuck to the ground as temperatures plunged to minus 52C (-59F).
The approximately seventy passengers on board the flight, many of them shift workers, apparently offered to lend a hand, fearing that otherwise their journey home would be delayed
A video then shows them pushing the wings to get the plane moving.
However, some have questioned whether they actually moved the plane, or were just pretending for the video.
The plane took off and landed safely in the regional centre of Krasnoyarsk. A spokesperson for Katekavia denied the plane had become stuck and said it was instead the vehicle meant to push the plane that had stopped working.
After the plane was set loose, a tractor did the rest of the work, and the passengers were on their way. The plane reportedly took off, and landed safely hours later in Krasnoyarsk.
An official at the local prosecutor’s office, Oksana Gorbunova, told Interfax news agency that an investigation would be opened to find out why the passengers had got out and pushed the plane.
“They pushed the plane as if it was a car that had got stuck, which is categorically forbidden as it can damage the plane’s exterior, for example.”