FOOTAGE shows a scorched cliff face where a Russian plane crashed while making its second approach to land during poor weather — killing all 28 people on board.
The An-26 plane had been flying from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the town of Palana on the Okhotsk Sea coast, missed a scheduled communication and disappeared from radar screens while on an approach for landing.
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This video grab shows the scorched crash site of an RA-26085 Antonov An-26 passenger aircraft near the village of Palana, Kamchatka Credit: Getty 12
The An-26 plane with 22 passengers and six crew disappeared from the radars as it was coming into land in poor weather 12
None of the 22 passengers and six crew are believed to have survived.
Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov said the 39-year-old Soviet-era plane crashed while making a second attempt to land because of "poor visibility".
Russia's state aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, said parts of the plane were found about three miles from the airport's runway, near the coast line.
Part of the fuselage was found on a mountain side and another part was floating in the Okhotsk Sea.
Sergei Gorb, deputy director of Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, said the plane practically crashed into a sea cliff, which was not supposed to be in its landing trajectory.
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The passenger plane was believed to have smashed into the cliff with the debris falling into the sea which was later spotted by rescuers Credit: East2West 12
A group of rescuers who are involved in the search of an An-26 plane, on board of a Mi-8 helicopter, in Kamchatka Credit: EPA
Emergency officials first said they had located the An-26 crash site in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The plane was believed to have failed to clear a high cliff on the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Federal Air Transport Agency told reporters that the crash site was discovered between two and four miles from the runway at Palana.
The search is hampered by darkness and a tide which has washed away some of the wreckage, say reports.
Mash media cited ambulance sources as saying no survivors were expected.
We have found the wreckage of the plane. Where and under what circumstances, I cannot say
Aleksey Khrabrov, Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise
The head of the Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, Aleksey Khrabrov, said: "We have found the wreckage of the plane. Where and under what circumstances, I cannot say."
The plane, which belonged to a company called Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, missed a scheduled communication and disappeared from the radars, local emergency officials said.
The An-26 was coming in for a landing when contact was lost six miles away from Palana's airport.
Valentina Glazova, a spokeswoman for the local transport prosecutor's office, told AFP new agency: "All that is known at this time, what has been possible to establish, is that communication with the plane was interrupted and it did not land."
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Alexander Anisimov, who was the second pilot of An-26 plane which had been en-route Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, Kamchatka region, in Russia's Far East Credit: East2West 12
Olga Mokhireva, head of Palana village was a passenger Credit: East2West
Russian news agencies quoted local officials as saying there were 28 people on board, including six crew.
It is reported Alisa Khvaleyeva, 6, was on board, as was villager Artyom Tishchenko, 17.
Another passenger was mother-of-three Yulia Surovtseva, 43, who ran a puppet theatre in Palana.
The head of the Palana village administration, Olga Mokhireva, 42, was also reported to have been on board.
The pilot was named as Dmitry Nikiforov, and the co-pilot Alexander Anisimov, 27.
Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered a special commission to find out what had happened to the plane.
A criminal case was also launched into its fate, a normal measure when a plane goes missing or crashes in Russia.
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Ivan Sivak was also on board Credit: East2West 12
Fears are also growing for Rustem Zavgarov who is a flight mechanic Credit: East2West
Russia, once notorious for plane accidents, has improved its air traffic safety record in recent years.
But poor aircraft maintenance and lax safety standards still persist, and the country has seen several deadly air accidents in recent years.
A hotline has been set up for relatives who will be offered psychological assistance.
The An-26 that vanished today is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.
In August, a South West Aviation An-26 turboprop aircraft crashed while taking off from Juba Airport in Juba, South Sudan.
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The plane was nearing Palana on the Kamchatka peninsula when it vanished from radar Credit: East2West 12
The An-26 that vanished today is a twin-engined turboprop aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986
A month later an An-26 hit the ground while coming into land near the town of Chuguyev in the east of Ukraine, killing 22 of the 28 people on board.
The last major air accident in Russia took place in May 2019, when a Sukhoi Superjet belonging to the flag carrier airline Aeroflot crash-landed and caught fire on the runway of a Moscow airport, killing 41 people.
In February 2018, a Saratov Airlines An-148 aircraft crashed near Moscow shortly after take-off, killing all 71 people on board.
An investigation later concluded that the accident was caused by human error.
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Russia also frequently experiences non-fatal air incidents that result in re-routed flights and emergency landings, usually stemming from technical issues.
In August 2019, a Ural Airlines flight carrying more than 230 people made a miracle landing in a Moscow corn field after a flock of birds were sucked into the engines shortly after take-off.
In February 2020, a Utair Boeing 737 carrying 100 people crash-landed on its belly in northern Russia after its landing system malfunctioned. All of the flight's passengers and its crew survived.
Flying in Russia can also be dangerous in the vast country's isolated regions with difficult weather conditions such as the Arctic and the Far East.
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In September an An-26 transport exploded in a fireball as hit the ground while coming into land near the town of Chuguyev, in the east of the Ukraine
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