Plane goes missing in Russia with 28 on board, local officials lose contact: Reports

The local officials have said on July 6 that contact has been lost with a passenger plane with over two dozen on board in Russia's Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka. As per reports, a Russian AN-26 aeroplane with at least 28 on board including six crew members has gone missing as it was flying from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana in the Kamchatka Peninsula when it did not make a scheduled call-in. TASS reported citing a source that the plane lost contact with air traffic control while attempting to land.

However, different media outlets have reported conflicting accounts with one source telling TASS that the plane could have crashed into the sea. However, another told Interfax that the Russian passenger plane might have gone down near a coal mine close to the town of Palana. Reportedly, the authorities have already launched a search involving at least two helicopters along with several rescue workers on standby. Russian news agencies have also reported that there are one or two children among the passengers. 

Plane safety in Russia

Reports have also noted that even though Russia is notorious for plane accidents, it has improved its air traffic safety record in recent years. However, poor aircraft maintenance and staggering safety standards are still persisting. Especially in recent years, Russia has witnessed a number of deadly air accidents. 

In May 2019,  flag carrier airline Aeroflot’s Sukhoi Superjet crash-landed and subsequently caught fire on the runway of a Moscow airport, reportedly killing at least 41 people. Earlier in February 2018, a Saratov Airlines An-148 aircraft had crashed near Moscow just shortly after take-off and led to the death of 71 people on board. An investigation into the accident revealed that the crash took place by human error. 

There have been non-fatal landings in Russia as well including in August 2019, a Ural Airlines flight carrying over 230 people safely landed in a Moscow cornfield after a bird strike. The pilot was later hailed as a hero. Meanwhile, in February 2020, a Utair Boeing 737 carrying at least 100 people crash-landed on its belly after the landing system witnessed a malfunction.

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