Latest news with #RussianPlanes
Japan Times
5 days ago
- General
- Japan Times
Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia's far east, killing all 48 on board
An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia's far east on Thursday as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft. The burning fuselage of the plane, which was made in 1976, was spotted by a search helicopter after it disappeared from radar screens. It had been attempting to land for a second time after failing to touch down on its first approach, the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Operated by the privately owned Siberian regional airline Angara, it had been en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk near the Chinese border to Tynda, an important railway junction in the Amur region. It was carrying 42 passengers, including five children, and six crew. The regional governor and federal investigators confirmed that everyone on board had been killed. Investigators said they had opened a criminal case into the suspected violation of air traffic and air transport rules, resulting in the death of more than two people through negligence. The plane had recently passed a technical safety inspection, Russian news agencies reported, and had been involved in four apparently minor incidents since 2018. The crash is likely to raise new questions about the viability of continuing to fly such old planes in far-flung corners of Russia at a time when Western sanctions have crimped Moscow's ability to access investment and spare parts. It may also prompt other countries that operate the aircraft to review their fleets. North Korea, Kazakhstan, Laos, Cuba, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Zimbabwe operate the An-24, according to the authoritative RussianPlanes web portal. Video shot from a helicopter showed pale smoke rising from the crash site in a densely forested hilly area around 15 kilometers from Tynda. There were no roads to the site and a rescue team had to use heavy machinery to cut a path there. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and held a minute's silence at the start of a government meeting. At least one Chinese citizen was reported to have been on board and Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to Putin. Moscow said it had set up a commission to deal with the aftermath in addition to the criminal and air safety investigations. A representative of Angara said they could not offer any more details. An Angara Airlines plane takes off from an airport in Irkutsk, Russia, in 2014. | Reuters Angara is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia's far east. Before Thursday's crash, it operated 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to RussianPlanes. It was one of two Siberian airlines that last year asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers. Nicknamed "flying tractors" by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses inside Russia and are well-suited to Siberia as they are able to operate in sub-zero conditions and don't have to land on runways. But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs — which make up a fraction of Russia's fleet of over 1,000 passenger planes — has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts. Almost 1,340 An-24 planes were built in the Soviet Union. Eighty-eight have now been lost because of crashes and 65 because of serious incidents without casualties, and 75 are currently in operation, according to data from the RussianPlanes web-portal and Reuters analysis. Their age has long been of concern. Dmitry Medvedev, then president, proposed grounding Russia's An-24 fleet in 2011 after one of them crashed in Siberia, killing seven people. Many of the planes are due to be retired from service in the coming years, but mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest.
Kuwait Times
5 days ago
- General
- Kuwait Times
Soviet-era plane crash in Russia's far east kills 48
MOSCOW: An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia's far east on Thursday as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft. The burning fuselage of the plane, which was made in 1976, was spotted by a search helicopter after it disappeared from radar screens. It had been attempting to land for a second time after failing to touch down on its first approach, the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Operated by the privately owned Siberian regional airline Angara, it had been en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk near the Chinese border to Tynda, an important railway junction in the Amur region. It was carrying 42 passengers, including five children, and six crew. The regional governor and federal investigators confirmed that everyone on board had been killed. Investigators said they had opened a criminal case into the suspected violation of air traffic and air transport rules, resulting in the death of more than two people through negligence. The plane had recently passed a technical safety inspection, Russian news agencies reported, and had been involved in four apparently minor incidents since 2018. The crash is likely to raise new questions about the viability of continuing to fly such old planes in far-flung corners of Russia at a time when Western sanctions have crimped Moscow's ability to access investment and spare parts. It may also prompt other countries that operate the aircraft to review their fleets. North Korea, Kazakhstan, Laos, Cuba, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Zimbabwe operate the An-24, according to the authoritative RussianPlanes web-portal. Video shot from a helicopter showed pale smoke rising from the crash site in a densely forested hilly area around 15 km from Tynda. There were no roads to the site and a rescue team had to use heavy machinery to cut a path there. President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and held a minute's silence at the start of a government meeting. At least one Chinese citizen was reported to have been on board and Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to Putin. Moscow said it had set up a commission to deal with the aftermath in addition to the criminal and air safety investigations. A representative of Angara said they could not offer any more details. Angara is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia's far east. Before Thursday's crash, it operated 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to RussianPlanes. It was one of two Siberian airlines that last year asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers. Nicknamed 'flying tractors' by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses inside Russia and are well-suited to Siberia as they are able to operate in subzero conditions and don't have to land on runways. But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs – which make up a fraction of Russia's fleet of over 1,000 passenger planes – has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts. Almost 1,340 An-24 planes were built in the Soviet Union. Eighty-eight have now been lost because of crashes and 65 because of serious incidents without casualties, and 75 are currently in operation, according to data from the RussianPlanes web-portal and Reuters analysis. Their age has long been of concern. Dmitry Medvedev, then president, proposed grounding Russia's An-24 fleet in 2011 after one of them crashed in Siberia, killing seven people. Many of the planes are due to be retired from service in the coming years, but mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest. – Reuters
AsiaOne
5 days ago
- General
- AsiaOne
Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia's far east killing all 48 on board, World News
MOSCOW — An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying 48 people crashed in Russia's far east on Thursday (July 24) as it was preparing to land, killing everyone on board in an incident that spotlighted the continued use of old, Soviet-era aircraft. The burning fuselage of the plane, which was made in 1976, was spotted by a search helicopter after it disappeared from radar screens. It had been attempting to land for a second time after failing to touch down on its first approach, the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office said in a statement. Operated by the privately owned Siberian regional airline Angara, it had been en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk near the Chinese border to Tynda, an important railway junction in the Amur region. It was carrying 42 passengers, including five children, and six crew. The regional governor and federal investigators confirmed that everyone on board had been killed. Investigators said they had opened a criminal case into the suspected violation of air traffic and air transport rules, resulting in the death of more than two people through negligence. The plane had recently passed a technical safety inspection, Russian news agencies reported, and had been involved in four apparently minor incidents since 2018. The crash is likely to raise new questions about the viability of continuing to fly such old planes in far-flung corners of Russia at a time when Western sanctions have crimped Moscow's ability to access investment and spare parts. It may also prompt other countries that operate the aircraft to review their fleets. North Korea, Kazakhstan, Laos, Cuba, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Zimbabwe operate the An-24, according to the authoritative RussianPlanes web-portal. Video shot from a helicopter showed pale smoke rising from the crash site in a densely forested hilly area around 15km from Tynda. There were no roads to the site and a rescue team had to use heavy machinery to cut a path there. President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and held a minute's silence at the start of a government meeting. At least one Chinese citizen was reported to have been on board and Chinese President Xi Jinping sent his condolences to Putin. Moscow said it had set up a commission to deal with the aftermath in addition to the criminal and air safety investigations. A representative of Angara said they could not offer any more details. 'Flying tractors' Angara is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia's far east. Before Thursday's crash, it operated 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to RussianPlanes. It was one of two Siberian airlines that last year asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers. Nicknamed "flying tractors" by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses inside Russia and are well-suited to Siberia as they are able to operate in sub-zero conditions and don't have to land on runways. But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs — which make up a fraction of Russia's fleet of over 1,000 passenger planes — has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts. Almost 1,340 An-24 planes were built in the Soviet Union. Eighty-eight have now been lost because of crashes and 65 because of serious incidents without casualties, and 75 are currently in operation, according to data from the RussianPlanes web-portal and Reuters analysis. Their age has long been of concern. Dmitry Medvedev, then president, proposed grounding Russia's An-24 fleet in 2011 after one of them crashed in Siberia, killing seven people. Many of the planes are due to be retired from service in the coming years, but mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest. [[nid:720474]]
CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Russian aircraft spotted and tracked flying near Alaska again, NORAD says
Russian military planes were detected flying near the coast of Alaska on Tuesday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said, marking the latest in a string of sightings in recent months. The planes were not considered a threat, as Russian activity in that airspace happens regularly, according to the military command. U.S. officials have not specified the type of aircraft spotted this week or how many of them were there. CBS News has reached out to NORAD for more information. The aircraft flew through a section of international airspace called the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is a designated area just outside of U.S. and Canadian sovereign space that both countries surveil closely for national security reasons. Aircraft are also expected to identify themselves when entering this region. NORAD said it tracked the Russian planes after detecting them and confirmed that they remained in the international zone. "NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions," the command said in a news release, adding that it "remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America." Military officials in the U.S. have reported the presence of Russian planes in the ADIZ a handful of times already since the beginning of the year. In April, NORAD said the command had detected Russian warplanes flying off the coast of Alaska, within the bounds of the defense identification zone. Less than three months earlier, the U.S. and Canada scrambled fighter jets to follow Russian warplanes seen over the Arctic, in an incident that drew some scrutiny as the region became a source of increasing geopolitical tension. The U.S. military said it later dispatched two F-16 fighter jets from Alaska to Greenland, to "forward posture NORAD presence in the Arctic." In September 2024, NORAD posted dramatic video of a Russian fighter jet flying "within just a few feet" of NORAD aircraft off the coast of Alaska. At the time, a U.S. general said "the conduct of one Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional, and endangered all." Two months before that incident, the U.S. military said it intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers in international airspace off the Alaskan coast.
