What was supposed to be a routine morning flight suddenly vanished from radar during its final approach. No distress signals. No warnings. Just silence. For the families of the passengers, that silence quickly turned into a nightmare.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft just minutes before its scheduled landing. Weather conditions in the area were poor — heavy fog, low visibility, and dense clouds. The destination lies in a region notoriously difficult for navigation, surrounded by rugged terrain and dense forests. Search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched.
The missing aircraft, an An-24 operated by Angara Airlines, disappeared over the skies near Tynda, a remote city in the Far East of Russia. The wreckage was later located by a rescue helicopter on a mountainside, about 16 kilometers from the local airport. On board were 49 people, including six crew members and five children among the passengers.
Footage shared by emergency services on Telegram showed the scorched remains of the plane smoldering among the trees. Preliminary aerial reports indicated no signs of life at the crash site. Although not officially confirmed yet, sources suggest that all passengers and crew perished.
It was confirmed that the plane had taken off earlier that day from Khabarovsk and stopped briefly in Blagoveshchensk, where it underwent a technical inspection and was deemed airworthy. The crash site lies over 5,000 kilometers east of Moscow.
The terrain has complicated rescue efforts, with helicopters unable to land due to the steep mountain slopes. The search is ongoing. Regional Governor Vasily Orlov urged the public not to trust unverified reports. A hotline for relatives has been set up by the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
An official investigation into the cause of the tragedy is now underway. The aircraft involved was nearly 50 years old, though its airworthiness certificate had recently been extended through 2036. Despite a long history of use in remote areas, the An-24 — a Soviet-era design — has been criticized for its safety record in recent years.
