DefenseA Russian Antonov An-26 military transport aircraft crashed in Crimea on March 31, killing all 29 people on board, according to the country’s defense ministry.
The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control at around 18:00 local time while conducting a planned flight over the peninsula. Search teams later located the wreckage on a cliff face, with no survivors reported.
Authorities said six crew members and 23 passengers were on board. The ministry indicated there was no evidence of external factors such as a missile, drone or bird strike, pointing instead to a possible technical malfunction as the preliminary cause.
A military commission has been dispatched to the crash site to investigate the circumstances of the accident.
The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft introduced in the late 1960s. It has long been used by military forces and civilian operators for short- and medium-range transport missions, with a capacity of up to around 40 passengers or equivalent cargo.
The type has been involved in several fatal accidents in recent years, including military and civilian operations, often linked to aging airframes and operational conditions.
Russia plans to replace it with an aircraft designed from scratch, the Ilyushin Il-112V, but development has been suspended since 2021 when the only prototype crashed near Moscow.
