Wreckage found after plane crashes off Russia’s far east
Moscow, Jul 6 (EFE).- Russian rescue teams on Tuesday found wreckage from the AN-26 passenger plane that went off the radar in Russia’s far east, the country’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) confirmed.
None of the six crew members and 22 passengers, including two children, survived the crash, according to preliminary data by emergency services.
Rosaviatsiya said that rescue missions were difficult due to the geographic features of the landscape.
The wreckage was found about 4-5 kilometers (3 miles) from the runway, according to Rosaviatsiya.
A team investigating the crash said bad weather conditions may have caused the accident.
The twin-engine turboprop aircraft had taken off from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy in Kamchatka and was bound for Palana.
Contact with the plane, belonging to Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, was lost during landing, an emergency source told state-run news agency Tass.
Regional authorities have organized search and rescue teams to locate the aircraft, which had been in operation since 1982 and whose license was due to expire on August 30.
Criminal proceedings have been launched into the incident for alleged violations of air navigation regulations. EFE
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