The wreckage of a missing turboprop aircraft has been found in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula, with no reported survivors.
The Antonov-26 plane, which crashed on Tuesday morning into a rocky mountainside, was carrying twenty eight including six crew.
Reports carried in Russian state media said the debris was found 4 km (2.5 m) from the plane's destination, Palana, in the north of the remote peninsula. The plane was due to land at just before 1pm local time, but lost contact with air traffic control shortly before final approach.
The Antonov-26 is a twin-engined workhorse used predominantly in militaries over the post-Soviet space. Produced in the USSR between 1969 and 1986, it has been involved in a substantial number of fatal accidents, with 132 hull loss accidents reported as of 2021. The plane in question was a passenger modified version of the An-26, and has been operational since 1982.
In comments to local news agencies, Alexei Khabarov, director of the operating company, Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, insisted the plane was technically sound.
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Other anonymous sources pinned the blame on the pilot, suggesting he had been disorientated by bad weather in the areas.
"One working theory is that the aircraft could have crashed because of pilot error or bad visibility," one such source, attributed to the emergency services, said. There had been no warning of a malfunction, which indicated a "fast-moving situation."
Russia's aviation authority confirmed that conditions at the time of scheduled landing were difficult. Mountains around the airport had been enveloped in clouds, they reported, and there was fog from 300m upwards.
Olga Mokhireva, the head of the local government in Palana, was aboard the flight, the spokespeople of the Kamchatka government said.
A probe into the incident has already been launched, with helicopters, an aircraft and several ships deployed to the crash site.
(With additional reporting from agencies)
