Russia: Plane Crash with 49 People Onboard

SadaNews - A passenger plane "AN-24" crashed in the Tynda area of the Amur region in the Russian Far East, with 49 people onboard, all of whom lost their lives, according to estimates from emergency services.

 

Earlier, a source told the "TASS" agency that "a plane belonging to Angara Airlines of the AN-24 model was unable to communicate with the control point just a few kilometers from Tynda Airport." 

The governor of the Amur region, Vasily Orlov, clarified that the plane was carrying 43 passengers, including 5 children, and 6 crew members.

"Novosti" reported that the weather conditions in the area where the AN-24 plane went missing were poor, which led to the delay of the flight.

Authorities stated that contact with the AN-24 plane, which was on its route from Khabarovsk via Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, was lost while it was attempting to land for the second time, while TASS quoted a source indicating that the AN-24 had not sent any signals regarding issues during flight.

Rescue teams headed to the Tynda area to search for the missing plane, and emergency services noted that the taiga (northern forests) conditions complicate the search operation for the lost aircraft, which is primarily conducted from the air.

Later today, the wreckage of the plane was found about 15 km from the city of Tynda.

According to emergency services, preliminary information indicates that everyone onboard the crashed AN-24 has perished.

Emergency services mentioned that they are considering the hypothesis of human error, such as the crew making a mistake during landing under poor visibility, as well as the possibility of a technical failure leading to the plane's crash.

Source: Agencies