An-28 with 19 Persons Missing in Russia, Second Incident Involving Antonov Plane in 10 days

The Antonov An-28 aircraft belonging to Siberian Light Aviation airline which disappeared earlier today made a hard landing in Tomsk region.

It is the second mishap involving an Antonov light transport plane in 10 days.

“The (An-28) aircraft disappeared from radar in the Bakcharsky district. Its emergency locator beacon went off. There are 17 people on board, including four children and three crew members," a source was quoted as saying by government-owned TASS News Agency.

The aircraft, which belongs to the Siberian Light Aviation (SiLA) airline, took from Kedrovy and was heading towards Tomsk. A Mil Mi-8 helicopter had been sent to search for the plane

All 19 people onboard the passenger plane survived the accident. A pilot reportedly suffered a broken leg.

Izvestia reported citing its sources that the aircraft’s engine failed. The pilots then managed to land it in an open area.

A similar incident involving An-28 in 2012 left ten people killed. The aircraft had crashed in the Kamchatka forest. Investigation revealed that both pilots were drunk at the time of the crash.

On 6 July 2020, a Russian An-26 twin-engined airplane with 28 people onboard went missing in the Far Eastern peninsula of Kamchatka. Wreckage from the aircraft was later located on the coast, including parts of the fuselage on the shoreline and fragments in the water. There were no survivors from the crash.

Today’s incident casts serious doubts about the safety of Antonov series of aircraft, most of which were built during the Soviet era.