ULAN-UDE, July 28. /TASS/. The debris found during a search operation for an An-2 plane that went missing on July 19 in Siberia’s Buryatia belongs to another aircraft, which crashed a year ago, the Siberian aviation search and rescue center told TASS.
Earlier on Tuesday, a source in the emergencies services told TASS that the An-2 plane owned by Fenix airline, which had gone missing more than a week ago, was found in the Usolsky district in the Irkutsk Region.
"A plane has been discovered, but this is an old plane, which went missing a year ago. We thought that this was that plane, but it turned out that this is an old plane, which crashed a year ago," the source said, adding that this plane also belonged to Fenix airline.
According to the source, the debris was found in Buryatia, not in the Irkutsk Region. The airline confirmed to TASS that the discovered plane crashed a year ago.
The An-2 plane owned by Fenix airline took off from the Kyren village in Buryatia’s Tunkinsky district on July 19 and contact with it was lost. The plane was making an aerial survey flight to specify an area to be sprayed against silkworm. There were six people aboard, including two crew members and four crew members from other aircraft of the Fenix airline. The plane, manufactured in 1984, was "in ideal condition" and the crew had great flight experience.
The East Siberian investigative transport department of the Russian Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into violating the rules of safety and operation of aircraft, which caused the death of more than two people.