A passenger’s request to disembark moments before takeoff has been hailed as a “miracle” after the Soviet-era Antonov An-24 turboprop she left crashed with no survivors.
Marina Avalyan, 55, boarded an Angara Airlines flight from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda on Thursday but stepped off when her daughter called with news of her grandchild’s sudden illness.
The plane, delayed by rain, remained on the tarmac long enough for Avalyan to collect her luggage and return home. Shortly after she arrived, she learned that the aircraft had crashed on approach, killing all 48 people on board, according to regional aviation authorities.
The flight, operated by one of the few remaining users of the rugged An-24 model, attempted a second landing in Tynda after aborting its initial approach. Contact was lost with air traffic control at approximately 13:00 local time, and rescue crews later located the burning wreckage on a densely forested slope about 15 km from the remote Siberian town.
With no roads to the site, teams had to clear a path through thick woodland by heavy machinery to reach the fuselage, officials said.
Avalyan had planned to return to Tynda after visiting family in Blagoveshchensk. While awaiting takeoff, she received a call from her daughter, who reported that her granddaughter was suffering from nausea and stomach pain.
With the infant’s father accompanying the older sister to the hospital, airline staff permitted Avalyan to leave the flight to care for her grandchild. By the time she reached home, the child’s symptoms had eased, and Avalyan was then informed of the tragedy.
Among those killed were 42 passengers including five children and six crew members. Victims ranged from families on vacation to seasoned aviation professionals.
Sergei Shiyan, a well-known fitness coach, perished alongside his wife and daughter, while another family bound for a wedding anniversary flight also lost their lives. A flight attendant with eighteen years of experience, Anastasia Bessmertnaya, was among the crew; her husband, a flight engineer, had survived a previous crash in 2011.
The Antonov An-24 involved was built in 1976 and had passed a recent technical inspection, the carrier reported. According to the Russian Planes database, 1,340 An-24s were produced during the Soviet era; of those, 88 have crashed and 65 have been in serious incidents.
Only 75 remain in service worldwide, with governments in North Korea, Kazakhstan and other countries still operating the type despite plans to replace them. Russia has pledged to phase out the An-24 in favor of the modern TVRS-44 Ladoga, though production is not expected to begin before 2027.
Investigators have opened criminal proceedings for suspected violations of air-traffic safety rules, and a government commission has been appointed to oversee technical, administrative and forensic inquiries.
President Vladimir Putin observed a minute’s silence at a cabinet meeting in memory of the victims, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping conveyed condolences to bereaved families.
As investigators work to determine the cause likely a combination of poor weather and the aborted first landing the tragedy has renewed calls for accelerated modernization of Russia’s regional fleet.
