A devastating aviation incident has resulted in the loss of 48 lives after an Angara Airlines Antonov An-24 plane crashed in a dense forest in Russia's Amur region on approach to Tynda airport. The plane vanished from radar while carrying 42 passengers and six crew members from Blagoveshchensk, close to the Chinese border. A Russian civil aviation helicopter later located the burning wreckage approximately 16 km from the airport.
Regional governor Vasily Orlov confirmed that five children were among the deceased and announced three days of mourning for the victims. The remote and swampy terrain complicated rescue efforts, resulting in at least an hour of delays before rescuers could reach the crash site.
Preliminary investigations suggest potential pilot error due to poor weather conditions or a technical malfunction. At the time of the crash, the aircraft had already attempted to land unsuccessfully due to low cloud coverage, losing radar contact during preparations for a second approach.
Angara Airlines, located in the Irkutsk region, had its crew hailing from the same area. Many passengers were reportedly employees of Russian Railways in the far east. Notably, the Antonov An-24 aircraft involved was nearly 50 years old and originally designed in Kyiv during the Soviet era, though it had not been operational in Ukraine for several years.
Despite passing a recent technical inspection, the An-24 model has faced scrutiny in the past, having been linked to four incidents since 2018. In 2016, one of its wings sustained damage after overrunning a runway, with the aircraft involved in further incidents leading to fatalities in previous crash events. This history has raised concerns about the continued use of such older aircraft across Russia, as highlighted by a previous statement from then-president Dmitry Medvedev advocating for grounding similar models still in operation.
