All 49 people aboard an Antonov An-24 passenger plane that crashed in Russia’s Far East on Thursday are believed to have been killed, state media reported, citing emergency officials.

The Angara Airlines flight lost contact with ground dispatchers around 1 p.m. local time while flying several kilometers from the airport in the town of Tynda, located in the Amur region.

The plane had originated in Khabarovsk, made a stop in Blagoveshchensk and was en route to Tynda. Among those on board were six crew members.

Emergency officials said the aircraft did not issue a distress signal or report any technical issues before it disappeared from radar.

Rescue teams later located the charred wreckage approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Tynda, a town of less than 30,000 people.

“According to preliminary information, all on board were killed. So far, the rescue helicopter has been unable to land at the crash site — it’s a remote, mountainous area on a slope. A fire is currently burning at the scene,” an unnamed emergency official told the state-run TASS news agency.

Amur region Governor Vasily Orlov confirmed that the aircraft’s fuselage had been found but did not comment on casualties.

Transportation investigators announced that they had launched a criminal probe into the crash, treating it as a possible violation of air safety rules.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the air disaster.

The An-24, a Soviet-era twin turboprop aircraft, was more than 50 years old, according to civil aviation authorities cited by TASS. The aircraft received a renewed airworthiness certificate in 2021, which allowed it to operate through 2036.

'FLYING TRACTORS'

Angara airline is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia's far east. It operates 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to the RussianPlanes web-portal.

Angara was one of two Siberian airlines that last year asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, many of which are over 50 years old, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers.

Nicknamed "flying tractors" by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses by the Russian aviation industry and are well-suited to the harsh conditions in Siberia as they are able to operate in sub-zero conditions and don't have to land on runways.

But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs - which make up a fraction of Russia's fleet of over 1,000 passenger planes - has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts.

Many of the planes were due to be retired from service in the coming years, but regional airlines are trying to keep them flying until a replacement enters into service as they say there is no alternative until then.

Mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest.