Russian Passenger Plane Carrying 49 People, Including Children, Vanishes Near Chinese Border
A Russian An-24 passenger plane with 49 people on board, including five children, has vanished mid-flight near the eastern city of Tynda, in the Amur region, close to the border with China.
The aircraft, operated by Angara Airlines, was on a Khabarovsk–Blagoveshchensk–Tynda route when it lost contact just minutes before its scheduled arrival.
Details of the Disappearance
According to Interfax and SHOT, the Soviet-era An-24 dropped off radar screens only a few kilometres from Tynda Airport. It reportedly failed to check in at its final waypoint, prompting an immediate search and rescue operation.
Vasily Orlov, governor of the Amur region, confirmed:
“All necessary forces and means have been deployed to search for the plane.”
The Ministry of Emergency Situations later reported that wreckage had been discovered nine miles from the airport, with parts of the fuselage still on fire.
Search Operation and Weather Conditions
Footage shared on Russian social media shows Mi-8 rescue helicopters combing the rural terrain in poor visibility, amid low cloud and rain. Adverse weather may have been a contributing factor in the aircraft’s disappearance.
No survivors or bodies have yet been officially confirmed. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency told news outlet Baza that “the search has not yet yielded results.”
Criminal Case Opened
A criminal investigation has been launched by the Russian Investigative Committee for Transport, a standard procedure in serious aviation incidents.
Aircraft Details
The Antonov An-24 is a twin-turboprop aircraft first developed in the late 1950s by the Antonov Design Bureau in Kyiv, then part of the USSR. Although long retired in most Western nations, the model remains in limited regional use across Russia and parts of Asia.
