Passengers feared dead after plane crash wreckage found in Russia's far east

The plane had been carrying 22 passengers and six crew members on board when it crashed in the far east of Russia.

A search and rescue team board a helicopter to take part in a search operation for a missing Antonov An-26 passenger aircraft. Source: AAP/Russia Emergencies Ministry

Search teams have found wreckage of the An-26 passenger plane that had been carrying 28 people on board when it disappeared earlier Tuesday in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula, according to Russia's aviation agency. 

"Rescuers found the wreckage of the aircraft. Given the geographic features of the landscape, rescue operations are difficult," the aviation agency said in an emailed statement, adding that the debris was found along the region's Pacific coast.

The An-26 was flying from Kamchatka's main city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the coastal town of Palana when it disappeared at 2:40 pm (0240 GMT), Valentina Glazova, a spokeswoman for the local transport prosecutor's office, told AFP earlier Tuesday.

Officials said that communication with the plane had been lost nine kilometres from Palana's airport and 10 minutes before its scheduled landing time.

Earlier, Helicopters, a maritime patrol aircraft and several ships were deployed in the search with a focus on the Okhotsk Sea.

The Antonov An-26 with the same board number #RA-26085 as the crashed plane is parked at Airport Elizovo on 17 November 2020. Source: AAP

The aviation agency statement said that the wreckage had been found at 9:06 pm local time (0906 GMT).

It added that the debris was located 4-5 kilometres from the airport's runway "on the side of the coastline", though it did not specify whether it was found in the sea.

Citing sources, Interfax reported that the plane was thought to have crashed into a cliff as it was preparing to land in poor visibility conditions.

There has been no word about any survivors.

Palana's airport is located 3.3 kilometres from the coastline.

The Soviet-era plane type, still used for military and civilian flights in some countries, has been involved in dozens of deadly crashes since it entered service around 50 years ago.

An Antonov-28, a similar plane, slammed into a Kamchatka forest in 2012 in a crash that killed 10 people along the same route. Investigators said both pilots were drunk at the time of the crash.

Additional reporting: Reuters