Russia's missing An-2 plane found, all aboard alive

Vladivostok, Dec 22 (IANS) The missing An-2 light aircraft, which disappeared in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has been found with all three people aboard alive, local authorities said on Sunday.

All three individuals on board, including two crew members and one passenger, have been evacuated by a Mi-8 helicopter from Kamchatka rescue teams and are being transported to Milkovskaya District Hospital, where their health conditions will be assessed, said the regional office of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

According to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, the missing plane and people were found near Mount Tundrovaya on early Sunday.

The plane, which was en route from Milkovo to Ossora, failed to arrive at its destination on Thursday, prompting an intensive search and rescue operation.

Earlier December 19, an An-2 aircraft operated by Fair Avia went missing over Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, local authorities said.

"At 4:45 a.m. Moscow time (0145 GMT), a distress signal was detected from the An-2 aircraft, tail number 33555, at an altitude of 700 metres. The plane was en route from Milkovo to Ossora," Sergei Lebedev, regional emergency minister, said on social media.

The plane with three crew members aboard presumedly disappeared approximately 80 km south-southeast of the Klyuchi village. Emergency response efforts are underway.

An-2 is a single-engine plane widely used in Russia's remote areas.

Earlier on July 16, 2021, all 19 people on board a Russian Antonov An-28 passenger plane that vanished from radars in Siberia survived after the aircraft made a hard landing, the emergencies ministry said.

The aircraft -- operated by SiLA, a small airline offering regional flights in Siberia -- went missing while flying from the town of Kedrovy to the city of Tomsk.

But the aircraft was located after helicopters were dispatched to search for it.

The ministry said that all 19 people on board had survived and were now being evacuated from the site.

Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years but accidents, especially involving ageing planes in far-flung regions, are not uncommon.

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