Authorities Expect No Survivors in Russian Far East Plane Crash

All 49 passengers and crew aboard an ageing Antonov A-24 flying from Khabarovsk via Blagoveshchensk to Tynda in the Far East of Russia, are thought to have died when their plane came down in bad weather, authorities said on Thursday.

Images of the accident site taken from a helicopter suggest there were no survivors, as the wreckage was scattered and burning.

The helicopter was unable to land in the terrain of moor and taiga, and rescue workers were reported to be struggling to reach the scene some 15 kilometres away from Tynda, a small town in the Amur region.

The An-24 is one of the oldest passenger planes still in operation, with series production starting in 1962. Almost 60 of the more than 1,300 built up to 1979 are still in service, most in Russia, but also in Kazakhstan, North Korea and Ukraine.

The plane involved in the accident is reported to have been almost 50 years old. Its operating licence had been extended to 2036.  

According to Russia's Rosaviatsiya civil aviation authority, four safety incidents relating to the plane have been reported since 2018. That year, the plane's lift wing was damaged in an accident. In two other cases, the crew ordered a return to the departure airport, once because of a defective generator and on another occasion because of a broken radio.

The plane is reported to have undergone a safety inspection immediately before the flight, with no shortcomings found. The crew also reported no problems during the flight, according to the official information.

Some of the problems in the Russian aviation sector can be attributed to Western sanctions imposed following the country's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian prosecutors have launched an investigation into Angara Airlines, the company operating the flight, focusing on safety measures.

According to media reports, investigators are looking into the possibility of human error. The reports said the crew could have misjudged their height in difficult weather conditions and that the plane could have brushed the tops of trees as it approached the runway.