UT Air Crashes in Siberia, 43 aboard, Casualties Climbing
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What: UT Air -ATR 72 en route from Tyumen to Surgut
Where: Siberia
When: April 2, 2012
Who: 39 passengers aboard, 4 crew, casualty numbers pending.
Why: ATC lost communication with the plane not long after it was underway. It went down not long after takeoff, about thirty kilometers from Tyumen.
The plane was en route when it crashed near Tyumen, Siberia, Gorkovka Village. The pilots were attempting to make an emergency landing. Witnesses in Gorkovka said that the plane broke into three parts and caught fire. Most of the injured are suffering burns. The ministries of Emergency sent three planes with medical equipment, doctors and personnel.
Initial reports are that there were 17 survivors flown by chopper to medical facilities in Tyumen. Some reports say everyone aboard died. Many of the victims are children.
The plane caught fire after the impact. Two hundred emergency service personnel and rescuers are on the scene, and 43 emergency vehicles.
The phone number for relatives is 8-800-775-17-17
Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova announced that a dozen people were rescued and sixteen bodies recovered. One more of the rescued died, bringing survivors to 11. One man died in the helicopter on the way to the hospital.
Investigators are on the scene. Before anyone arrived, there was already speculation of pilot error and “technical difficulties.” The flight data recorders have already been recovered.
makes good reading.