Antonov 26 crash near Palana Airport
On 6 July 2021, all six crew members and 22 passengers onboard this Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise An-26 (RA-26085, msn 12310), operating flight PTK251 from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, were killed after it impacted a top of the coastal slope, about 3.8 kilometres from the airport. It happened while on approach to Palana in foggy and cloudy conditions when contact with the aircraft was lost.
Two helicopters and a number of search aircraft were dispatched to check the route of the aircraft, checking both approach routes to Palana over land and over the sea. A number of ships were also dispatched to a location at the sea, to investigate a location where the aircraft might have come down, emergency services report. A weak ELT signal was discovered.
Kamchatka's regional government reported contact with the aircraft was lost just when the aircraft was maneouvering to begin the final approach, about nine kilometres before the airport, at about 15:00 hours local time. The aircraft had departed Petropavlovsk at 12:57 hours and was estimated to land at 15:05.
Kamchatka's government later confirmed the wreckage was located, parts of the aircraft were found in the water some dozen meters below the coastal edge where the aircraft impacted, some parts were found on land.
Rosaviatsia reported a search helicopter found the wreckage at position N59.1078 E159.8478. The engines were on top of the cliff, the rest of the aircraft down in the sea at the foot of the cliff.
Picture by Sergey Svechnikov via JetPhotos.net