Russia Stretched Airplane’s Service Life Previous 50 Years. One Simply Crashed.

A Russian passenger airplane that crashed on Thursday was practically 50 years outdated and had its service life prolonged to 2036, in accordance with state media.

The Antonov An-24, a twin-propeller plane that seats 43 passengers, disappeared at round 1 pm native time in Russia’s Amur area, regional transport officers stated in a Telegram assertion.

Russian federal air officers stated 42 passengers and 7 crew members have been on board when the airplane crashed on method to an airport at Tynda, a metropolis in Amur.

Regional officers stated the airplane had failed to the touch down as soon as at Tynda and crashed throughout its second method.

Flying situations have been appropriate for passenger plane, and no misery calls had been issued on the time of the crash, state media outlet TASS reported.

It later wrote {that a} rescue helicopter observing the crash website discovered no indicators of survivors. As of press time, nevertheless, the newest replace from Russia’s emergency ministry stated floor rescuers hadn’t reached the location as a consequence of “tough mountainous terrain.”

The airplane, operated by Siberian-headquartered Angara Airways, was manufactured in 1976, making it 49 years outdated, in accordance with state media outlet TASS.

TASS reported that in 2021, this explicit An-24’s airworthiness certificates was prolonged to 2036, which might have allowed it to fly passenger journeys as much as 60 years after its maiden flight.

An open-source Russian airplane registry listed the crashed An-24 as getting into operations in February of 1976, making it 49 years and 5 months outdated.

To match, main worldwide and US airways usually section out plane which were in service for over 35 years.

In January, Angara was additionally considered one of two Russian airways that highlighted a necessity to increase the service lifetime of its An-24s, saying that Western sanctions had restricted entry to upkeep staff and spare components for a lot of its fleet.

“We’re at the moment working in a market during which there aren’t any alternate options to the An-24 and An-26,” Angara deputy CEO Sergei Zorin stated on the time, per Reuters.

Aviation authorities signed a contract in March to push the plane’s service life to 60 years.

State media additionally reported on Thursday that the crashed An-24 had sustained injury and gear failures at the least thrice previously seven years.

Citing Russia’s federal air transport company, TASS reported that the airplane had rolled off a runway in 2018 and clipped a lightning pole with its left wing. The plane additionally returned to an airport in 2019 after its generator failed, whereas considered one of its radio units was reported to have malfunctioned on the tarmac in Might 2025.

Its method warning system was additionally activated as soon as in 2022, per TASS.

Nonetheless, the state media outlet reported preliminary findings from emergency providers that crew error induced the crash, although it didn’t specify how authorities arrived at that conclusion.

Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, stated on Thursday that her workplace would launch a legal investigation into the crash.

Angara Airways didn’t reply to a request for remark despatched exterior common enterprise hours by Enterprise Insider.