An Antonov An-12 cargo aircraft registered as EW-518TI, carrying at least five crew members and two passengers has crashed near Irkutsk while operating a flight from Yakutsk to Irkutsk in Siberia, Russia. Emergency Services have located the crash site of the aircraft, confirmed a fire broke out and recovered seven bodies from the wreckage. The actual number of people on board was later revised from seven to nine with two additional crew members onboard the aircraft.
According to media reports from Russia, the Antonov was operated by a private Belarusian company named “Grodno Air Company” which owns several Antonov aircraft. The reports also state that the company confirmed that one of its Antonov An-12 aircraft was operating in Siberia but couldn’t verify whether it was their aircraft that crashed.
The crash site is located a few kilometers away from Irkutsk Airport in a wooded area, the visibility during the accident was reduced with reported snowfall. Preliminary information indicate that the flight announced a go around during approach and shortly afterwards contact was lost.
Jan-Hendrik is an aviation enthusiast from Germany, loves to travel the world and fly on as many aircraft as possible. His first flight was with a Condor 757 to Spain and has been interested in aviation ever since. His fields of expertise are aircraft accidents and passenger experience (PaxEx).
