An Antonov-24 turboprop operated by Angara Airlines crashed on a forested mountainside about 16 km from Tynda in Russia’s Far East on Thursday, with rescuers reporting no immediate signs of survivors.
The aircraft vanished from radar around 1:00 p.m. local time (0400 GMT) while flying from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage in dense woodland, video released by investigators showed.
The Amur region governor said 43 passengers and six crew were on board, including five children. State news agency TASS, citing emergency services, put the passenger count at 40. The Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office said the crew had initiated a go‑around for a second landing attempt when contact was lost.
Ground teams—25 personnel with five vehicles—were dispatched, with four additional aircraft on standby, officials said. Rugged terrain is hampering access, so most search work is being done from the air, a rescuer told TASS.
Angara Airlines, a regional carrier based in Irkutsk, did not immediately comment.
TASS reported the nearly 50-year-old aircraft had its airworthiness certificate extended in 2021 through 2036, a claim AFP said it could not independently verify. The An-24, a Soviet-era twin-prop first flown in 1959, remains common on remote Russian routes despite a broader shift toward modern jets. Accidents involving older light aircraft still occur frequently in distant regions.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is under way.