Russian plane makes emergency landing in the Arctic
An An-26 aircraft under Russian airline Utair made an emergency landing near Utrenniy Airport in an Arctic region described as the “end of the world”.
Even though the plane broke into two, all 41 people aboard survived. However, three people were reportedly injured.
According to Russian news outlet info24, the aircraft crashed at around 3.40pm local time on Friday (14 June).
Weather conditions deteriorated rapidly
A Utair spokesperson said rapidly deteriorating weather conditions during the flight forced the pilot to make an emergency landing nearly two kilometres from Utrenny airport, The Sun reported.
“An An-26 plane flying from Sabetta to Utrenny made an emergency landing after the weather deteriorated dramatically, amid heavy fog and strong wind,” the spokesperson stated.
An Interfax report noted that the plane landed on a snowfield about 1.6 kilometres from Utrenniy Airport, wrote The Sun. Photos of the crash show the aircraft split into two, with its nose pointing upward.
Russian authorities are currently investigating the cause of the crash.
Three people lightly injured
All 36 passengers and five crew onboard survived the crash and emergency workers evacuated them to the airport building.
According to the spokesman, one passenger and two crew members — the captain and co-pilot — were lightly injured and received medical assistance.
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Featured image adapted from East2West via The Sun