Reported missing earlier, Russian passenger plane with 28 onboard crashes into sea

Moscow [Russia], July 6 (ANI): A passenger plane that went missing in Russia’s Kamchatka region with over 25 people on board crashed into the sea on Tuesday, CNN reported quoting local media.

The plane, Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop, was flying from the regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the village of Palana, in Kamchatka’s north, when it missed a scheduled communication and disappeared from radar, according to local emergency and transport officials.

CNN reported that the plane had 28 people on board the aircraft including six crew members.

“In the afternoon of July 6, the duty shift of the crisis management centre of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Main Directorate in the Kamchatka Territory received information that the An-26 aircraft, on a passenger flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, did not get in touch at the specified time,” the regional department of the Emergencies Ministry.

Two passengers were children under the age of 12, according to Alexander Zabolichenko, deputy chairman of the Kamchatka government.

Search and rescue operations are underway. Several ships have been sent to search for the plane, CNN reported citing emergency services.

“Rescue troops are ready to move from Palana to the aircraft’s detection point,” the regional government said in an official statement to Sputnik.

An investigation has been launched into safety compliance of the plane. “If violations are detected, prosecutorial response measures will be taken,” Kamchatka transport prosecutor’s office told Russian state news agency TASS.

The weather was cloudy and foggy at the time and the crash may have happened due to a piloting error in poor visibility, TASS reported, citing an emergency services source. (ANI)