Plane Accident In Kamchatka, Russian Search And Rescue Teams Find 11 Body Parts Of The Dead

JAKARTA - Bad weather, technical failure, or pilot error were possible causes of the crash of an An-26 passenger plane on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said at Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with the government on Wednesday, July 7 local time.

"A technical commission has been set up to investigate the incident. Unfavorable weather conditions, technical failure, and pilot error are considered as the three main causes of the accident", Savelyev said, quoted by TASS.

"Search efforts are ongoing, identifying and evacuating the bodies of all those who died in the crash", he added.

As of Wednesday at 16.30 p.m. local time yesterday, the rescue team had found 11 body parts of the dead at the crash site.

Savelyev said the difficult topography of the search field, as well as complex weather conditions, made rescue operations face difficult challenges.

Savelyev further explained that he and his entourage of the authorities had directly inspected the crash site of the Antonov An-26 aircraft belonging to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airline.

"Until now, members of the commission and I have made flights over the crash site", he said.

"Today we flew along the route in not very good weather conditions, but we landed at Palana, took a different route, and had no problems", he explained.

"That's why we want to understand why the pilot of the plane made such a difficult decision", Savelyev continued without elaborating.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry earlier confirmed that the bodies of 19 people had been recovered at the crash site, with the storm complicating rescue teams at the site. Meanwhile, debris from the plane was found 3.8 kilometers from Palana airport, according to the Emergencies Ministry.

As previously reported, an Antonov An-26 passenger plane belonging to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airline lost contact with the control tower and disappeared from radar on July 6.

The plane, which departed from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, was carrying 22 passengers and six crew. A Russian emergency services source said the plane stopped communicating as it was about to land. One version suggests the crash occurred due to a piloting error due to poor visibility.

Meanwhile, the weather in the area was cloudy at the time of the accident, the Interfax News Agency said, citing the local meteorological center. It is known, the aircraft has been operating since October 20, 1982, with the certificate of airworthiness expiring on August 30, 2021