MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. The Embraer private aircraft that, among other passengers, was carrying Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin kept gaining and losing altitude before fatally crashing in Russia’s Tver Region, according to a Flightradar24 report.
The flight tracking service’s report said that the aircraft continued in level flight at an altitude of about 8,500 meters until 6:19 p.m. Moscow time (3:19 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday, when its vertical altitude sharply declined. After that, the plane climbed to a maximum altitude of roughly 9,150 meters and then descended to 8,400 meters. The aircraft then leveled off at an altitude of 8,900 meters before starting to descend sharply. Flightradar24 received the last data about the flight when the plane was at an altitude of about 6,000 meters. All recorded altitude changes took place within a span of 32 seconds.
The Embraer business jet, en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, crashed in the Tver Region, just north of Moscow, late on August 23. According to preliminary reports, all ten people on board were killed. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that Prigozhin was on the passenger list. The agency is looking into the causes of the crash. A criminal investigation has been launched into a violation of safety regulations and rules for the operation of transport vehicles.