Russia plane crash: All 28 aboard feared dead, wreckage of Antonov An-26 found

All 28 people on board the Russian An-26 are feared to have died after the plane crashed into the sea on July 6 off the country’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula while it was preparing to land, reported news agency RIA on Tuesday after the local officials were unable to contact the crew. Reportedly, the plan an Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop was bound to Palana, a village in northern Kamchatka from regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. However, Russia’s emergencies ministry said that it lost contact with air traffic control. Nobodies have yet been found and there was no official confirmation of the reports.

Citing emergency services, Russian media agencies reported several ships were en route to the crash site. However, the 22 passengers and six crew on board did not service, RIA and Interfax news agencies quoted sources in the rescue service as saying. The Russian aviation agency has also reportedly said that the “rescuers found the wreckage of the aircraft” and noted that the rescue operations are “difficult” considering the geographic features of the landscape.

As per the Associated Press, Sergei Gorb, deputy director of Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, said that the plane “practically crashed into a sea cliff,” which wasn’t supposed to be in its landing trajectory. Meanwhile, a criminal investigation has been opened into the incident. 

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.

IMAGE: AP