A Russian passenger aircraft with 49 people on board, which went missing earlier today, reportedly crashed in the country’s far eastern region bordering China, with no survivors expected, according to officials cited by news agency Reuters.Rescuers found parts of the burning fuselage minutes after air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft midway through its flight.
The local emergencies ministry said the An-24 aircraft, operated by the Siberia-based Angara airline, vanished from radar while approaching its destination — the town of Tynda in the Amur region, news agency Reuters reported. According to Russian news agency Interfax, the Plane vanished during a second landing attempt, after an initial approach to Tynda airport was unsuccessful.
Regional governor Vasily Orlov said according to preliminary data, there were 43 passengers on board, including five children, along with six crew members. “All necessary forces and resources have been deployed to search for the Plane,” Orlov wrote on Telegram.
However, the country’s emergencies ministry offered a slightly lower estimate, saying about 40 people were believed to be on board. A similar incident occurred in September last year when, a Robinson R66 helicopter with three people on board went missing in the same Amur region during an unregistered flight. The region is approximately 6,600km east of Moscow.