A plane carrying 28 people crashes in Russia’s far east; no survivors.

Moscow: According to Russian news agencies, no survivors were found after a plane carrying 28 people crashed in Russia’s far east on Tuesday.

The Antonov An-26 twin-engined turboprop was flying from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, a village in the north of the Kamchatka peninsula, when it lost contact with air traffic control, according to the emergency ministry.

According to Interfax, the plane was believed to have crashed into a cliff as it was preparing to land in poor visibility conditions.

The plane’s crash site was discovered, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority, after the emergencies ministry dispatched a helicopter and teams on the ground to search for the missing plane.

According to the ministry, there were 22 passengers and six crew members on board. The mayor of Palana, Olga Mokhireva, was among the passengers, according to the TASS news agency.

According to Russian news agencies, the weather in the area was cloudy at the time the plane went missing. According to TASS, the aircraft involved had been in service since 1982.

Although Russian aviation safety standards have improved in recent years, accidents, particularly involving ageing planes in remote areas, are not uncommon.

Since its introduction into service around 50 years ago, the Soviet-era plane type, which is still used for military and civilian flights in some countries, has been involved in dozens of fatal crashes.

An Antonov-28, a similar plane, crashed into a Kamchatka forest in 2012, killing ten people on the same route. According to investigators, both pilots were intoxicated at the time of the crash.