Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Dmitriy Pichugin
What: Local carrier FGUPKAP twin-engine Antonov An-28 en route from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Yelizovo to Palana
Where: Palana village, Russia
When: Sept 12, 2012 12:28 p.m.
Who: 12 passengers, 2 crew, ten fatalities
Why: The plane was scheduled to land in Palana village, but lost contact with ATC and crashed in a cedar forest on a hill 10 kilometers away from the intended landing site. A thirteen year old boy who survived is now comatose. The three other survivors are in critical condition.
A recovery helicopter landed as close as possible to the wreckage; but rescue personnel had to navigate through rough topography to reach the wounded.
Originally nine bodies were found, and five injured people, but one child died of injuries.
FGUPKAP, the carrier is owned by the state. Minister of Health Tatiana Lemeshko Kamchatka participated in a conference regarding the crash, and reported on the status of the 4 surviving passengers. The ministry is sending September rescue personnel and doctors to Palana on September 13.
Weather conditions, human error or technical malfunction may be the cause. Officials announced that the families of the fatalities will be getting 200,000 rubles in compensation.