Moscow: Tragedy struck in Russia’s Far East on Thursday after a Siberia-based An-24 passenger aircraft crashed in the mountainous Amur region, killing all 49 people on board, including five children and six crew members.
The aircraft, operated by Angara Airlines, had taken off from Blagoveshchensk and was on its way to Tynda near the Russia-China border when it abruptly lost contact with air traffic control shortly before its scheduled landing.
According to Russia’s state-run news agency TASS, the aircraft reportedly caught fire mid-air and vanished from radar screens without sending any distress signals, raising serious concerns about the sequence of events that led to the disaster.
Rescue helicopters were deployed soon after the disappearance and eventually located the wreckage on a remote mountainside about 16 kilometres from Tynda. The crash site, described as steep and inaccessible, was discovered engulfed in flames, confirming the worst fears.
Officials from the Amur Centre for Civil Defence and Fire Safety confirmed that there were no survivors. “The aircraft caught fire upon crashing,” a spokesperson said. “Rescue operations have been extremely difficult due to the treacherous terrain.”
The crash site lies deep within the taiga forest, surrounded by swampy, rugged ground, further hampering recovery efforts. A Mi-8 search helicopter initially flew over the location, but the lack of ground access has delayed the retrieval of bodies and black boxes.
Preliminary reports indicate the aircraft may have been attempting a second landing approach to Tynda Airport when it went off the radar. However, no definitive cause has been established yet.
“All necessary forces and means have been deployed to search for the plane and support investigation efforts,” said Amur region governor Vasily Orlov.
The Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office has opened a formal investigation into the crash, while Rosaviatsia, the country’s aviation regulator, has sent experts and equipment to the site to begin probing the wreckage once access is secured.
The An-24, a Soviet-era turboprop aircraft, has a long service history but has been gradually phased out of operation in many regions due to safety concerns. This latest crash is expected to reignite debate over the continued use of aging airframes in Russia’s regional aviation sector.
Officials say recovery operations, including the retrieval of the black box and identification of victims, will begin as soon as conditions allow.
