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Technical fault, pilot error among likely causes of An-26 plane crash in Kamchatka

A technical commission has been set up to investigate the incident

Crash site of An-26 plane Russian Emergencies Ministry/TASS

Crash site of An-26 plane

© Russian Emergencies Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. Bad weather, technical failure or a pilot error are the likely causes of the An-26 passenger plane crash on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said at a meeting of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin with the government on Wednesday.

"A technical commission has been set up to investigate the incident. Unfavorable weather conditions, technical failure and pilot error are being considered as the three main causes of the crash," the transport minister said.

Efforts are ongoing to search for, identify and evacuate the bodies of those killed in the crash, he added.

As of 4:30 p.m. local time, rescuers had found the fragments of 11 bodies on the crash site. The terrain’s features and complex weather conditions are complicating the rescue operation, Savelyev informed.

The Russian transport minister said he had visited the crash site. "As of now, the commission members and I have made a flight over the crash site," he said.

"Today we flew along the route in weather conditions that were not very good but we landed at [the community of] Palana, using a different route and experienced no problems. That is why, we want to understand why the plane’s commander made such a difficult decision," the transport minister said, without elaborating on it.

An Antonov An-26 passenger plane belonging to the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airline went missing on July 6. The plane bound from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for Palana was carrying 22 passengers and six crewmembers.

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry earlier confirmed that the bodies of 19 people had been found on the crash site. The search is being complicated by a storm. Debris from the plane was found 3.8 kilometers away from the airport of Palana, according to the Emergencies Ministry.

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