All the occupants of an Antonov An-24 have survived after the aircraft landed on an icy lake while stopping at the Siberian town of Zyryanka.
The Polar Airlines aircraft (RA-47821) landed on the Kolyma river running to the right of the runway, at around 11:45 local time on 28 December.
It had been transporting 30 passengers and four crew members, according to the federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia.
“There are no casualties,” it states, adding that passengers were transferred to the airport building 45min later.
The aircraft had been operating flight 217 from Yakutsk to Srednekolymsk, with a stopover in Zyryanka.
Zyryanka is situated at the confluence of the Kolyma and Yasachnaya rivers. Temperatures on 28 December were below minus 30°C, but the specific airport weather conditions have not been confirmed.
Polar Airlines says the aircraft is undamaged and that Rosaviatsia has ordered an investigation into the incident.
No firm conclusions have yet been drawn about the event, but the east Siberian transport prosecutor’s office says the aircraft “deviated from the runway during landing” and “landed on a sand spit” in the river.
Preliminary information, it adds, suggests “crew error in piloting the aircraft” was behind the incident.
According to the transport ministry of the Sakha republic, flight-safety inspectors and engineers have been sent to the scene.
“Flight safety is the main priority in the activities of regional airlines,” the ministry says. “It is the responsibility of airlines to develop and improve management systems to ensure a high level of safety.”
Aeroflot originally operated the aircraft, which it received in 1971.
