- विज्ञापन -
Moscow: On Thursday, Russian An-24 aircraft crashed in the mountainous Amur region carrying 49 passengers, including five children and six crew members, according to local media reports.
The flight lost contact with air traffic controllers in a short time before its scheduled landing. The flight operated by the Siberia-based Angara airlines has departed from Blagoveshchensk and was an route to Tynda.
Russia’s state news agency TASS stated that the aircraft seemingly caught fire mid-air and lost signals from the Radar.
Later on rescue helicopters located the burning debris on a remote mountainside, nearby 16 kilometers from Tynda.
No Survivors Confirmed
No survivors were found when a Mi-8 rescue helicopters flew over the crash site, confirmed by officials from the Amur Centre for the Civil Defence and Fire Safety.
Spokesperson said that the aircraft caught fire upon crashing. They also added rescue operations have been hampered by the challenging terrain, as the crash site lies on a sharp, inaccessible slope.
Dense Weather Conditions Reported
The extreme geographical conditions of the region, dense taiga forest and muddy terrain which further complicated the rescue efforts.
Before disappearing, the aircraft did not send any distress signals before disappearing; rising questions over what went wrong.
Recent Probe into the matter
Initial reports recommend the An-24 may have been seeking a second approach to land at Tynda Airport when it went off the radar.
A Rosaviatsia aircraft and multiple rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the area when the information was received earlier in the day.
Amur region governor Vasily Orlov said, “All necessary forces and means have been deployed to search for the plane.”
Investigators from the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office have launched a probe into the incident.
The cause of the crash is still unclear, and officials are expected to begin recovery operations and black box retrieval once ground access becomes possible.
