A passenger plane today landed on cracking ice on a notorious Russian river due to a pilot’s mistake.
Thirty passengers and four crew were safely evacuated on foot from the Polar Airlines An-24 propeller plane in Siberia’s coldest region of Yakutia.
The pilot mistook the frozen Kolyma River for a small landing strip at remote Zyryanka, some 70 miles below the Arctic Circle with a population of less than 4,000 people.
The plane has been left marooned on the ice of the Kolyma River, used to transport prisoners to forced labour camps during the Stalin era.
The 52-year-old An-24 aircraft had flown from the world’s coldest city Yakutsk and landed by error on the frozen ice instead of a landing strip on the riverbank in a temperature of minus 41C.
The 52-year-old An-24 aircraft has been left marooned on the ice of the Kolyma River in Siberia’s coldest region of Yakutia
The plane stuck on the ice in Yakutia. The 52-year-old An-24 aircraft had flown from the world’s coldest city Yakutsk and landed by error on the frozen ice instead of a landing strip on the riverbank
Passengers being escorted away from the aircraft. There were no casualties, according to a report
The ice is believed to be 2ft 7 inches thick but pictures show an evident long crack near the plane.
‘There were no casualties,’ said media outlet Evening Yakutsk.
The plane has not been moved despite it suffering no significant damage, said reports.
It did not fly onto Srednekolymsk, as scheduled.
The river landing was categorised as a ‘serious incident’ by Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.
‘During the landing, [the plane] deviated from the runway,’ said the East Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office. It landed on the Kolyma River.
Some accounts said it came to rest on or near a sandspit in the river.
‘According to preliminary information, the cause of the aviation event was a crew error in piloting the aircraft,’ said the prosecutor’s office.
An investigation has been launched into the blunder.