Russian An-3 Aircraft Crashes in Siberia's Yakutia

A Russian-made An-3 aircraft operated by a local airline crashed in Russia’s Sakha Republic presumably on Sunday, killing one out of five onboard. 

Yakutia Emergencies Ministry Department reported the crash on Sunday morning local time, where it said the plane, operated by local carrier Borus Airlines, “made an emergency landing 1.5 km from the city of Olekminsk.” 

“There were five people on board the plane, including three crew and two passengers. As a result of the accident, unfortunately, one passenger died,” read the official statement. It didn’t mention the state of the remaining crews and passengers. 

Russian authorities attributed the cause to the loss of engine thrusts, as per a BBC Russia report, citing the state media and Russia’s transport prosecutor’s office. 

BBC Russia reported that the An-3 aircraft, a derivative of the An-2 cargo-passenger aircraft developed in the 1940s, was manufactured in Omsk at the Polet Product Association between 2000 and 2009, with 25 units produced in total.

Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion have deprived its aviation industry of the support provided by foreign aircraft manufacturers needed to keep their aircraft flying safely. The instances of in-flight emergencies and other aviation instances have been increasing.

In 2023, almost 700 incidents were reported of which 400 were associated with equipment failure causing fires and other malfunctions in engines during flights, damage to the landing gear, breakdowns of the flaps and failure of guidance systems.

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It was reported in May that Russia was confident it could in the future maintain and repair the so-called “hot” parts of its aircraft including engines, auxiliary power units, landing gear and so on. It’s not clear if the latest crash resulted from maintenance issues pertaining to the lack of components caused by Western sanctions.