All 49 people aboard an Antonov An-24 passenger plane that crashed in Russia’s Far East on Thursday were killed, state media reported, citing emergency officials.
The Angara Airlines flight lost contact with ground dispatchers around 1 p.m. local time while flying several kilometers from the airport in the town of Tynda, located in the Amur region.
The plane had originated in Khabarovsk, made a stop in Blagoveshchensk and was en route to Tynda. Among those on board were six crew members.
Emergency officials said the aircraft did not issue a distress signal or report any technical issues before it disappeared from radar.
Rescue teams later located the charred wreckage approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Tynda, a town of less than 30,000 people.
“According to preliminary information, all on board were killed. So far, the rescue helicopter has been unable to land at the crash site — it’s a remote, mountainous area on a slope. A fire is currently burning at the scene,” an unnamed emergency official told the state-run TASS news agency.
Amur region Governor Vasily Orlov confirmed that the aircraft’s fuselage had been found but did not comment on casualties.
Transportation investigators announced that they had launched a criminal probe into the crash, treating it as a possible violation of air safety rules.
The An-24, a Soviet-era twin turboprop aircraft, was more than 50 years old, according to civil aviation authorities cited by TASS. The aircraft received a renewed airworthiness certificate in 2021, which allowed it to operate through 2036.
