An An-2 light aircraft crashed in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. TASS was the first to report this on the evening of January 9, citing a source from the emergency services. The agency wrote that according to preliminary data, two people died as a result of the accident.
“Due to icing, an An-2 plane crashed 10 km from the village of Karatayka,” a TASS source from the emergency services said.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, there were 12 people on the plane – 10 passengers and two crew members. After the plane crashed, one of the passengers contacted the emergency services.
The village of Karataika is located 175 km northwest of Vorkuta and about 24 km south of the Pechora Sea coast. According to the meteorological services, the weather in this region was around 15 degrees below zero during the day and it was snowing.
Later, the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia confirmed that the An-2 crashed, adding that the passenger, who contacted the rescue teams, said that two people were dead. The Ministry of Emergencies announced that the plane flew on the route Naryan-Mar – Karatayka – Varandey – Naryan-Mar. A rescue team by helicopters and a ground crew with snowmobiles were dispatched to the scene of the accident. RIA Novosti wrote that two Mi-8 helicopters flew to the crashed An-2.
But Yuri Bezdudny, the governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, said that ground services are still looking for the plane. Two Mi-8 helicopters are ready to take off, but will go to the scene as soon as weather conditions allow.
The North-Western Transport Prosecutor’s Office announced that the plane did not crash, it was a hard landing. First, the department held a preliminary investigation check into the incident. Later, the Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case was opened in connection with the emergency under Part 3 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of the rules of traffic safety and the operation of air transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons due to negligence).
RIA Novosti, then citing the Ministry of Emergencies, reported that one of the two killed was the pilot of the downed An-2. Four more people were injured as a result of the hard landing of the plane.
Valery Ostapchuk, Managing Director of the Naryan-Mar United Air Association, told TASS that the plane was flying in harsh weather conditions.
“Two crew on board, 10 passengers. What happened, we don’t know yet, the emergency radio signal worked. We have a polar night, fog. Ground crews left to provide assistance, ”Ostapchuk explained.
360 TV channels also reported that the cause of the disaster could be fog. A resident of the village of Karatayka told reporters that visibility in the vicinity was poor due to fog. According to him, almost all of the villagers went to the crash site to help the survivors.
At around 18:20 Moscow time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that the evacuation of the survivors from the crash site was completed. Telegram channel “112” published the lists of those who flew on the plane. According to these data, a male pilot born in 1964 and a passenger born in 1968 died in the accident. Additionally, according to 112, there were at least two minors on board – boys born in 2008 and 2011.