The An-26 flew from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana in the Kamchatka Peninsula when it did not make a scheduled call-in, the Interfax, RIA Novosti, and TASS agencies quoted local officials as saying.
The report said the 28 onboard included six crew members and one or two children among the passengers. The reports said that a search had been launched involving at least two helicopters, and rescue workers were on standby. 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.
The last major air accident 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.
Flying in Russia can also be dangerous in the vast country’s isolated regions with challenging weather conditions such as the Arctic and the Far East.
