Passenger plane with 49 on board crashes in eastern Russia

The wreckage of a passenger plane that went missing over a remote area of eastern Russia on Thursday has been located, according to the country’s Civil Defence Ministry.

The Antonov An-24 was en route from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda, near the Chinese border, with 49 people on board, said Vasily Orlov, governor of the Amur region.

The aircraft vanished from radar during its second approach to Tynda. The wreckage was discovered about 15 kilometres from the town, the ministry reported.

It added that the crew had not reported any problems. It was not immediately clear whether there were any survivors after an inspection of the site by helicopter.

Rescue work is being hampered by the difficult terrain of moor and taiga, and the helicopter was unable to land at the site of the accident. Rescue workers were hoping to reach the wreckage by dusk, just a few hours away.

The plane had begun its journey in Khabarovsk before stopping over at Blagoveshchensk.

The An-24 is one of the oldest passenger planes still in operation, and the plane in the accident is reported to have been almost 50 years old. Its operating licence had been extended to 2036.

Some of the problems in the Russian aviation sector can be attributed to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian prosecutors have launched an investigation into Angara Airlines, the company operating the flight, focusing on safety measures. The plane is reported to have been inspected immediately ahead of the flight, with no shortcomings found.

According to media reports, investigators are looking into the possibility of human error. The reports said the crew could have misjudged their height in difficult weather conditions and that the plane could have brushed the tops of trees as it approached the runway.