Russian passenger plane forced to crash land in Siberia

The pilots of a Russian passenger plane have been hailed as heroes after they saved all 19 people on board after they were forced to crash land in Siberia. The Antonov An-28 aircraft with four children on board had disappeared from radars on a one hour 20 minute flight in the Tomsk region in western Siberia earlier on Friday.

A major rescue operation was launched and shortly after a badly damaged plane was spotted from the air. Rescuers reported that all on board were alive. Pilots Anatoly Prytkov, 56, and Faruh Khasanov, 32, were credited with saving all the lives after a crash landing in rough terrain. 'The site of the plane's hard landing was discovered. They see living people,' Russia's emergencies ministry said in a statement. Three emergency Mi-8 helicopters were scrambled to search for the plane which was later found, officials said.

The survivors were airlifted from the crash site after the pilots managed to find a spot to land amid swamps, said reports. The An-28 is a small, short-range, Soviet-designed turboprop used by many small carriers across Russia and some other countries. The plane belonged to the local Sila airline and was flying from the town of Kedrovoye to the city of Tomsk in a journey which usually takes one hour 20 minutes. The flight crew had not reported any problems before the plane disappeared, officials said, but the plane's emergency beacon activated, signalling that it had a forced landing or crashed.

'Communication was lost to the An-28 plane from the company Siberian Light Aviation,' said an emergency services spokesman. Earlier reports said there were 17 or 13 on board but reports from the crash site said there were 19. The incident comes 10 days after another Russian plane crashed while preparing to land in bad weather on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, killing all 28 people on board. The Antonov An-26 plane, carrying 22 passengers and six crew, had been on its descent into the village of Palana around 3pm Tuesday when it suddenly lost radio contact with ground crews.

A criminal case was also launched into its fate, a normal measure when a plane goes missing or crashes in Russia.

Aircraft Information:

Airline: SiLA - Siberian Light Aviation

Aircraft: Antonov AN 28

Registration: RA-28728

Serial Number: 1AJ007-13

Story sourced from here
'Hero pilots' save all 19 on board Russian passenger plane as it is forced to crash land in Siberia | Daily Mail Online