Four people died and four others are in serious conditions after the crash of a small commercial aircraft in a remote forested area in Russia’s Siberian Irkutsk region.
Officials said there were 14 passengers and two crew members aboard the L-410 aircraft when it crashed on September 12 several kilometers from the settlement of Kazachinskoye. Three passengers and one pilot were killed.
All 12 of the survivors were taken to a hospital in the village of Magistralny in the Kazachinsko-Lensky district. Eleven remain hospitalized, including four in critical condition in intensive care, the press service of the regional government told TASS on September 13.
Most of the survivors have fractured bones. One has gone home, the press service said.
Igor Kobzev, governor of the region, said three victims, including one of the pilots, will be airlifted to Irkutsk for treatment of complex fractures, Kobzev said on Instagram, adding that one victim will be operated on immediately and the rest will remain under the supervision of doctors.
The flight was a scheduled regional link between Irkutsk and Kazachinskoye.
Both pilot error in foggy conditions and engine failure are being investigated as possible causes of the incident, TASS said earlier.
The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case looking into air safety violations.
The twin-engine L-410 was designed by the Czechoslovakian firm Let Kunovice (now Aircraft Industries) and since 2018 has been produced in Russia in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
It can transport up to 19 passengers a distance of up to 1,500 kilometers and is designed for operation on unpaved, grassy, or snowy areas, as well as on short runways.
Since the beginning of 2021, 10 accidents involving lightly powered aircraft have been registered in Russia.
On June 19, an L-410 made a hard landing at the settlement of Zhuravlyovo in Siberia’s Kemerovo Oblast. Three passengers and both pilots were killed in that incident.
