An Antonov An-24 twin turboprop aircraft caught fire on approach and dropped its left wing before impact with the ground 5km (2.7nm) short of its destination runway, say witnesses. Officials say 29 of the 52 people on board were killed in the 16 March accident in Russia's far north. The An-24, operated by Regional Airlines, which started flight operations in May 2004, crash-landed approaching Varandei on the Barents Sea coast. The aircraft, built in 1972 and last overhauled at the Irkutsk aircraft repair plant in 2002, was flying the Ufa-Perm-Usinsk-Varandei-Nariyan Mar route.
Source: Flight International
