MIRACLE IN SIBERIA

SURVIVORS IN A MISSING AIRCRAFT

The successful emergency landing put an end to several hours of dread. Helpers found alive the 18 people aboard an AN-28 which had disappeared hours earlier from radars in Siberia, then had been located after an emergency landing, the Russian aviation agency said on Friday. . “The 15 passengers and three crew members were found. All the people who were on board are alive, ”Rosaviatsia said in a statement, adding that the survivors were being transported to the city of Tomsk.

The aircraft, an Antonov operated by the company "Siberian Light Aviation" (SiLA), was connecting the small town of Kedrovy to Tomsk when it stopped broadcasting. For a few hours, the plane could not be found. From then on, the authorities expected the worst. And for good reason: the disappearance of the plane comes barely more than a week after another accident involving an Antonov. On July 6, an An-26 crashed while landing in the Kamchatka Peninsula (Far East), killing all 28 people on board. The authorities and the population therefore fear the worst for this distressed Antonov. But a few hours later, the news is good: the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations indicated that the An-28 had been located and appeared to have carried out a "Emergency landing",adding that survivors had been seen by the emergency services from the air.

"We all believed in a miracle"

“We all believed in a miracle. And thanks to the professionalism of the pilots, it took place and everyone is alive, ”greeted the governor of the Tomsk region, Sergei Zhvachkin, quoted in the press release.

An outcome all the more miraculous when we see the very damaged device placed on its back in the taiga. Images published by Russian media show dirt inside his cabin. Six of the plane's passengers refused to be airlifted to Tomsk, according to Interfax, after being evacuated from the landing site by helicopter. "They will be taken to Tomsk with a minibus," said a local official, Alexey Sevostianov. Initial sources had reported 17, then 19 passengers and crew aboard the Antonov. Citing aviation sources, TASS said the plane had passed all technical checks, but a SiLA executive told TASS that the plane had been delayed ten hours due to bad weather conditions.

Back to the story of this unexpected "miracle".

Essentially made in Soviet times, Antonovs are still used throughout the former USSR in civil and military aviation. They have been involved in several fatal accidents in recent years. Russia has significantly improved its aviation safety since the 2000s as the country's major airlines shifted from Soviet aircraft to more modern aircraft.

Maintenance problems and sometimes lax compliance with safety rules are still a problem, however, especially in remote areas of the country where planes or helicopters are preferred to connect isolated localities.