None of the 28 people on board a Russian An-26 plane have survived its crash on Tuesday in the country’s far east, Interfax and RIA news agencies quoted sources in the rescue service as saying. The Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop was en route from the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, a village in the north of the Kamchatka peninsula, when it lost contact with air traffic control, the emergencies ministry said.
Russia’s civil aviation authority confirmed that the plane’s crash site had been found after the emergencies ministry dispatched a helicopter and had deployed teams on the ground to look for the missing aircraft.
It seems that the plane, en route from regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the village of Palana, lost contact with air traffic control during the flight, according to Russia’s emergencies ministry.
There were 22 passengers and six crew on board, the ministry said. Village mayor Olga Mokhireva was among the passengers along with four local government officials, local authorities said.
The plane, an Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop, was on approach for landing when contact was lost about 10 kilometres away from Palana’s airport. The weather in the area was cloudy at the time, Interfax news agency said, quoting the local meteorology centre.
The weather in the area was cloudy at the time the plane went missing, Russian news agencies reported. TASS said the aircraft involved had been in service since 1982.
Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving aging planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.
The Soviet-era plane type, still used for military and civilian flights in some countries, has been involved in dozens of deadly crashes since it entered service around 50 years ago.
