Missing Russian Plane With at Least 28 Aboard Sparks Land and Sea Search

A land and sea search is under way in Russia's far east after communication was lost with a plane carrying more than two dozen people, including a six year old girl.

Investigators are trying to find out what happened to the Antonov-26 belonging to Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, which was travelling from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, news agency Tass reported.

Russian Federal Air Transport Agency said that weather conditions were difficult at the time of landing for the aircraft—a twin engine turboprop—and it disappeared from radar.

The flight had taken off at 12.57 p.m. local time and was due to arrive just after 3 p.m. at the airport at Palana, a village of around 3,000 people which is the administrative center of the Koryak District on Kamchatka—a peninsula adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk.

Agencies initially reported that the plane could have fallen into the Sea of Okhotsk, or near a coal mine close to its destination and that 28 people, including six crew members were on board.

On its Telegram channel, RIA Novosti published a passenger list of 22 names which included a 6-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, whose names were redacted. The oldest passenger on board according to the list was a 69-year-old woman.

Among the passengers, Olga Mokhireva, whom the administrative center of the Koryak District described as the "head of our village," was on board as were local officials.

Tass reported that the plane had lost contact around six miles from Palana airport when it started its descent, although there were no reported technical problems during the flight, Interfax reported.

Dmitry Chernykh, general director of the Vityaz-Aero airline, whose helicopter is scouring the area, said the search would resume in the morning if the plane is not found before nightfall.

Meanwhile the Russian Pacific Fleet said it had also deployed an IL-38 anti-submarine aircraft, which can detect objects underwater, to join the search. Vessels are also involved in the search which takes in a radius of up to 17 miles from the airport.

There is no official comfirmation of the plane's fate so far.

The missing An-26, which had been operated by Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, was built in 1982 and its certificate of airworthiness was valid until August 30, 2021, and was said to be technically sound.

The Kamchatka Transport Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation while a criminal investigation into whether traffic safety rules were violated is also underway. A help line had been set up for relatives and friends of those on board.

Newsweek has contacted the Kamchatka regional administration for further comment.