Moscow, July 24, 2025: A tragic air disaster struck Russia’s Far East on Thursday as a Soviet-era passenger aircraft crashed in the Amur region, killing all 48 people on board, including five children, regional officials confirmed.
The twin-turboprop An-24 aircraft, operated by Angara Airlines, vanished from radar while en route from Blagoveshchensk, near the Russian-Chinese border, to the town of Tynda. Its burning wreckage was later discovered on a forested hillside approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Tynda, according to the regional transport prosecutor’s office.
Amur Governor Vasily Orlov confirmed in a video message that all passengers and crew perished in the crash. He also declared three days of mourning across the region.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reported that aerial reconnaissance located the charred fuselage amid dense forest, with debris scattered and smoke rising from the crash site. Due to the remote and rugged terrain, rescuers were still struggling to access the scene as of Thursday evening.
Preliminary reports from Russian media indicate that the aircraft was nearly five decades old, based on data linked to its tail number. The An-24, a model first introduced in the 1960s, has long been phased out in many countries but remains in limited service in parts of Russia.
According to Interfax, the aircraft attempted a second landing approach before communication was lost. The crash reportedly occurred amid adverse weather conditions, though the exact cause is still under investigation.
Authorities have launched a criminal probe into possible flight safety violations resulting in multiple fatalities, a standard protocol in aviation disasters.
While Governor Orlov stated that 49 people, including six crew members and five children, were on board, the Emergency Ministry later confirmed the death toll at 48, with the reason for the discrepancy yet to be clarified.
The flight initially departed from Khabarovsk, stopped in Blagoveshchensk, and was headed toward Tynda in the Russian Far East — a region located more than 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) east of Moscow.
Aviation accidents have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years, especially amid international sanctions that have strained the country’s aviation industry and limited access to spare parts and modern aircraft maintenance.
This latest crash is expected to renew scrutiny over the continued use of aging Soviet-designed aircraft and the broader condition of the Russian civil aviation sector.
