A passenger aircraft from the Soviet era, operated by Angara Airlines, crashed on Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Russia’s remote Amur region, resulting in the deaths of all 48 individuals aboard, including 42 passengers and six crew members. The Antonov An-24 aircraft vanished from radar around 1 p.m. local time during its second approach to land at Tynda airport.
The aircraft, based in Siberia, was on a regional flight from Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk and Tynda when communication with air traffic controllers was lost. Search and rescue helicopters discovered the burning wreckage on a mountain slope approximately 10 miles from Tynda airport, with no survivors visible from the air.
Regional Governor Vasily Orlov confirmed the deaths of 42 passengers, including five children, and six crew members. Among the passengers was one Chinese national, as reported by Chinese state media. Orlov declared three days of mourning and ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast throughout the Amur region.
The aircraft caught fire upon impact, with rescue helicopters finding the fuselage engulfed in flames. The dense forest terrain complicated rescue operations, requiring more than 100 search and rescue personnel to clear a path through the remote, roadless area to access the crash site. The Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office stated that “the plane was attempting to land for the second time when it crashed, after failing to touch down on its first approach.”
According to emergency services, no distress calls were issued by the crew before the crash, and weather conditions at the airport were reported as suitable for flying. However, some reports suggested that adverse weather conditions might have contributed to the incident. The aircraft was attempting its second landing approach when contact with air traffic control was lost.
Constructed in 1976, the nearly 50-year-old aircraft was built during the Soviet era and had been previously operated by Soviet flag carrier Aeroflot before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The Antonov An-24 model, originally designed in 1957, is known for its reliability in the Russian aviation industry, capable of operating in harsh Siberian conditions and landing on unpaved runways.
Russian investigators opened a criminal case to investigate suspected violations of air traffic and transport rules resulting in multiple deaths through negligence. The Interstate Aviation Committee launched an inquiry into the crash, while the Russian government formed a special commission, including federal and regional officials, to manage the aftermath. According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin was informed of the incident.
Angara Airlines CEO Sergei Salamanov stated that weather conditions were poor at the time of the incident, but noted that the commander decided to proceed with the flight. The Siberia-based carrier operates 10 An-24 aircraft built between 1972 and 1976, according to aviation databases. The airline serves airports throughout Siberia and Russia’s Far East from its base in Irkutsk.
This incident marked Russia’s first fatal passenger aviation accident since July 2021, when an An-26 crashed near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, resulting in the deaths of all 28 people aboard. The crash underscores ongoing challenges facing Russia’s aviation sector, which has experienced increased mechanical failures since Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict restricted access to spare parts and foreign aircraft components.
Russian airlines have struggled to replace aging Soviet-era aircraft with modern alternatives due to sanctions that have restricted access to Boeing and Airbus jets. In 2023, several regional airlines requested extensions for An-24 service life, citing difficulties in replacing the aging fleet. Mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, designed to replace the An-24 class, is scheduled to begin no earlier than 2027.
The crashed aircraft had encountered at least two technical malfunctions since 2022, including a generator failure during a flight in May 2022 and radio communication problems in March 2025, which forced a return to the parking area. The plane’s airworthiness certificate had been extended until 2036 in 2021, according to aviation databases.
Aviation safety challenges persist in Russia’s remote regions, where extreme weather conditions and challenging terrain make flying particularly hazardous. The An-24 aircraft, nicknamed “flying tractors” by some in the industry, remain essential for connecting isolated communities across Russia’s vast territory, especially in areas lacking proper runway infrastructure.
A hotline was established for families of crash victims and others affected by the tragedy. Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Russian President Putin, expressing sympathy for the families of those killed in the crash.
Social media platforms saw the circulation of several unrelated images falsely claiming to show the crash site, including photos from previous aviation disasters dating back to 2010. The actual crash site remained largely inaccessible except by helicopter due to the remote, forested, mountainous terrain.
Since the crash, investigators have emphasized altimeter pressure setting miscalculation as a likely factor. The preliminary probe suggests the crew may have flown lower than intended due to confusion between Soviet-era QFE altitude settings and modern QNH references. Authorities have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, although the flight data recorder was destroyed in the post-impact fire.
Russia’s federal transport and investigative committees remain active in the inquiry, and a broader audit of Angara Airlines’ safety practices is underway following reports of serious regulatory violations discovered before the crash.
