A Soviet-era Antonov An-24 operated by Angara Airlines crashed on 24 July while attempting to land in the Russian Far Eastern town of Tynda, killing all 48 people on board. The burning fuselage was located by a search helicopter on a forested hillside roughly 15 kilometres south of the airport, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The turboprop had departed Blagoveshchensk for the short regional hop to Tynda after an earlier leg from Khabarovsk. According to the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office, the crew abandoned its first approach and disappeared from radar during a second attempt. The dead include five children and at least one Chinese national, the Chinese consulate in Khabarovsk confirmed. Investigators opened a criminal case into suspected breaches of air-traffic and transport safety rules. Officials said the 49-year-old aircraft had cleared a recent technical inspection, but the accident is likely to intensify scrutiny of Russia’s continued reliance on ageing Antonov workhorses at a time when Western sanctions have constrained access to parts and new equipment. President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to the victims’ families and ordered a state commission to handle the aftermath. Chinese President Xi Jinping also sent sympathy messages. Recovery teams, working in difficult, road-less terrain, are continuing to remove remains and secure evidence as aviation authorities search for the flight data recorders.