Plane crashes in Russia’s far east, killing all 48 on board

MOSCOW - An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia’s far east on July 24 as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board, the regional governor and investigators said.

The burning fuselage of the plane, which was from the Soviet era and was nearly 50 years old, was spotted on the ground by a helicopter.

There were 42 passengers, including five children, and six crew members on board.

Investigators said they had opened a criminal case into the suspected violation of air traffic and air transport rules.

Video, shot from a helicopter and posted on social media, showed that the plane had come down in a densely forested area.

There were no roads to the site, and a rescue team numbering more than 100 people had to use heavy machinery to cut a path there.

Amur’s regional governor Vasily Orlov offered his condolences to the families of those who died and declared three days of mourning, ordering flags to be lowered to half-mast.

“I regret to inform you that, according to preliminary data, there are no survivors of the An-24 plane crash in the Tynda District. Rescuers have reached the crash site,” he said in a statement.

The plane was on a flight by a privately owned Siberian-based regional airline called Angara. The aircraft’s tail number showed it was built in 1976 and was operated by Soviet flag carrier Aeroflot before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

It was en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, a remote town and important railway junction in the Amur region bordering China, and dropped off radar screens while preparing to land.

Debris from the plane was found on a hill around 15km from Tynda, the Interfax news agency quoted emergency service officials as saying.

The federal Russian government said it had set up a commission to deal with the aftermath of the crash and the authorities announced an investigation into the cause.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had been notified of the crash.

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping had sent condolences to Mr Putin over the crash.

At least one Chinese citizen was reported to have been on board.

Flying tractors

Angara airline is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia’s far east. It operates 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to the RussianPlanes web-portal.

Angara was one of two Siberian airlines that in 2024 asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, many of which are over 50 years old, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers.

Nicknamed “flying tractors” by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses by the Russian aviation industry and are well-suited to the harsh conditions in Siberia as they are able to operate in sub-zero conditions and do not have to land on runways.

But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs – which make up a fraction of Russia’s fleet of over 1,000 passenger planes – has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts.

Many of the planes were due to be retired from service in the coming years, but regional airlines are trying to keep them flying until a replacement enters into service as they say there is no alternative until then.

Mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest. REUTERS