An-24 passenger plane veers off runway in Russia

Moscow, Aug 18 (IANS) An An-24 passenger plane overran the runway during takeoff at Roshchino International Airport in Tyumen, western Siberia of Russia, on Monday morning, said local authorities.

The aircraft carried six crew members and 40 passengers, including 13 children, but no injuries were reported in the incident, according to a statement posted on Telegram by the Central Interregional Investigative Directorate for Transport of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Xinhua News Agency reported.

All passengers were safely evacuated, and airport operations continued following the incident, said the statement.

Preliminary reports suggest that a technical malfunction in the braking system may have caused the accident.

On July 24, a Russian An-24 aircraft carrying 49 people, including five children and six crew members, crashed in the mountainous Amur region, killing all on board.

The ill-fated flight, operated by the Siberia-based Angara Airlines, had departed from Blagoveshchensk and was en route to Tynda, near the Russia-China border, when it lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly before its scheduled landing.

According to Russia's state news agency TASS, the aircraft reportedly caught fire mid-air and vanished from radar.

Rescue helicopters later located the burning wreckage on a remote mountainside, approximately 16 kilometres from Tynda.

Officials from the Amur Centre for Civil Defence and Fire Safety confirmed that "no survivors were found when a Mi-8 search helicopter flew over the crash site."

"The aircraft caught fire upon crashing," said a spokesperson. The aircraft did not send any distress signals before disappearing, heightening questions over what went wrong.

Preliminary reports suggested that the An-24 may have been attempting a second approach to land at Tynda Airport when it went off the radar.

A Rosaviatsia aircraft and multiple rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the area when the information was received.

Investigators from the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office have launched a probe into the incident.

--IANS

akl/as