A Russian plane carrying 233 passengers and crew was forced to make an emergency landing in a cornfield early Wednesday after colliding with a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from Moscow.Some 23 people on board were injured when Ural Airlines flight 178 to Simferopol went down in a field adjacent to Zhukovsky International Airport near Moscow, according to reports. MORE Airlines & Airports "On takeoff, after separation from the runway, the plane crashed into a flock of gulls, whose entry into the engines led to significant interruptions," a representative of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said in a statement.Among the 23 people injured were five children. All but one of the injured has already been treated and released. There were 226 passengers and seven crew members.The aircraft was an Airbus 321."The landing was made with the landing gear removed, and the crew turned off the engines before landing," according to FATA's statement. "The cabin crew coordinated and organized the evacuation of passengers on emergency inflatable ramps." Let's block ads! (Why?)