A Russian military flight carrying 39 people crashed Monday on approach to landing at an Arctic airport facility.
Reports are that there were no deaths but all passengers aboard the aircraft suffered injury. The cause of the accident has not been officially determined but high winds could have been the culprit.
The Defense Ministry said the plane, an Il-18 turboprop, crash-landed near the town of Tiksi in the Sakha-Yakutia region on the Laptev Sea. The plane carrying 32 passengers and a seven-member crew was flying from Kansk in eastern Siberia, around 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) southwest of Tiksi.
The plane broke up when it landed in the tundra, but didn’t catch fire.
Rescue helicopters evacuated people from the crash site, and 32 were hospitalized in Tiksi, including 16 who were in a grave condition, the ministry said. The other seven had less serious injuries. – AP
Photo by Russia State Transport Company
The Soviet era Il-18 turboprop is a four engine passenger plane that first flew in 1957. It is known as one of the Soviet Union’s (USSR) most reliable and durable aircraft with some airframes achieving over 45,000 flight hours. Variants of the airliner were widely exported around the world and utilized in many countries such as China, Cuba, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Vietnam to name a few.
Featured Image by Yakutsk.ru via AP