BREAKING: Russian passenger plane with 28 people on board disappears from radar-UPDATED

Russian passenger plane with 28 people on board disappears from radar and loses contact with air traffic control while trying to land.

A Russian Antonov An-26 passenger plane with 28 people on board, including the head of a local government, went missing on Tuesday, July 6, in the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, the country’s emergencies ministry said.

The plane, carrying 22 passengers and six crew members, was en route from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the village of Palana in the northern part of the peninsula when it lost contact with air traffic control and disappeared from the radar, agencies quoted local officials as saying.

Olga Mokhireva, the head of the local government in Palana, was aboard the flight, the spokespeople of the Kamchatka government said. A search and rescue operation is on and a probe into the incident has been launched, they said.

The plane belonged to a company called Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise. Two helicopters and an airplane have been deployed to chart the missing plane’s route.

Kamchatka is nine hours ahead of the capital, the region is bigger than Ukraine or France, and is home to just over 300,000 people. Featuring 16 active volcanoes, it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side, and the Sea of Okhtosk on the other.

Russian officials are investigating whether the plane’s disappearance was the result of safety rules violations or bad weather conditions. The Federal Air Transport Agency told Moscow daily RBK that heavy clouds and fog were reported around the area.

UPDATE 09:32 BST:

It has just been announced that the Russian aeroplane carrying 28 people, including a child, had in fact crashed into the sea. Several ships were on the way to the crash site once it was located, according to reports.

The flight had set off from regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and was heading for the village of Palana in the north before losing contact, the emergencies ministry confirmed. Six crew members were among those on board, the ministry added.

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