STEPANOVSKOYE /Moscow Region/, February 13. /TASS/. A search operation on the site of the An-148 plane crash in the Ramenskoye District, Moscow Region, is approaching its end, said head of the Emergencies Ministry’s Main Directorate for the Moscow Region Sergey Poletykin.

"The search operation entered the final stage at 08:00 Moscow time," he said.

Rescue workers worked on a three-shift basis during the night, he said. "Most attention is being paid to work with the IAC (the Interstate Aviation Committee - TASS) and the Investigative Committee on transportation of portions of the aircraft," Poletykin reported. Engineer equipment will soon join the operation to lift large parts of the aircraft for transportation from the crash site.

Poletykin specified that all plane wreckage will be sent to Zhukovsky.

On February 11, an An-148 passenger aircraft, operated by Saratov Airlines, which was en route to the town of Orsk, crashed several minutes after taking off from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, killing all the 71 people aboard. The aircraft wreckage was found near the village of Stepanovskoye in the Moscow Region.