MOSCOW (Sputnik) — All contact was lost on Tuesday with a Russian passenger An-26 aircraft traveling from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the village of Palana…
The wreckage from the plane was found on a cliffside along the coast and in the sea near Palana. As radio contact with the plane was lost some nine kilometres (five miles) from its destination, the Russian rescue services urgently dispatched two helicopters and a special aircraft to search the area along the route of the missing flight. The Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, said that weather conditions at the time of the plane’s landing were difficult due to thick fog and clouds that covered the mountains, raising doubt that the An-26 could have arrived safely. A report that a weak radio signal was coming from the coast was also soon disproved by the authorities, ending the last glimmer of hope that the passengers could still be found alive. According to the airline, the plane was carrying 28 people — 22 passengers, including one child, and six crew members. Three officials from the Palana village administration and its head, Olga Makhireva, were revealed to have been on board. To locate the crash site before dark, the search operation was joined by Russia’s Pacific Fleet on water and a rescue team from the Emergencies Ministry on the ground.
