A aircraft with 28 folks on board went lacking within the Russian Far East area of Kamchatka on Tuesday, native officers mentioned.

An Antonov An-26 aircraft with 22 passengers and 6 crew members, flying from town of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the city of Palana, missed a scheduled communication, native emergency officers mentioned. The aircraft additionally disappeared from radar, the native transport ministry.

The aircraft belonged to an organization known as Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise. The aircraft has been in operation since 1982, Russian state information company Tass reported. The corporate’s director, Alexei Khabarov, instructed the Interfax information company that the aircraft was technically sound.

An investigation has been launched, and a search mission is underway. Two helicopters and an airplane have been deployed to examine the lacking aircraft’s route, native officers mentioned.

The aircraft was on method for touchdown when contact was misplaced about 10 kilometers (six miles) away from Palana’s airport. The top of the native authorities in Palana, Olga Mokhireva, was aboard the flight, spokespeople of the Kamchatka authorities mentioned.

In 2012, an Antonov An-28 aircraft belonging to Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise crashed right into a mountain whereas flying from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsk and coming in for a touchdown in Palana. A complete of 14 folks had been on board and 10 of them had been killed. Each pilots, who had been among the many lifeless, had been discovered to have alcohol of their blood, Tass reported.

1:29
Drone footage exhibits scene of lethal Russian aircraft crash