'Mayday, Mayday': 23 Passengers, 6 Crew Killed As Russian An-26 Military Transport Plane Crashes In Crimea

Moscow: Six crew members and 23 passengers were killed when a Russian An‑26 military transport plane crashed in Crimea, the Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed early Wednesday.

The aircraft collided with a cliff, a source at the scene told TASS news agency.

The Russian defense ministry said late Tuesday that the An-26 had lost contact during a scheduled flight over the Crimean Peninsula, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to preliminary information, the crash was caused by a technical malfunction, and no hostile fire targeted the aircraft.

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“On 31 March at around 18:00 Moscow time, contact was lost with the An-26 military transport aircraft whilst it was on a scheduled flight over the Crimean Peninsula,” the defence ministry said.

"The search and rescue team has located the crash site of the An-26 aircraft. According to reports from the scene, the six crew members and 23 passengers on board were killed," the ministry added.

The ministry report ​did not say how many people were on board, but it made no mention of any survivors on the An-26, a light tactical military transport that has for decades been a mainstay that ​can carry cargo and up to 40 passengers over short and medium distances.

In a similar incident earlier in December 2025, Russia reported a deadly military aviation accident involving an Antonov transport aircraft. On December 9, an Antonov An-22 crashed during a test flight near the village of Ivankovo in the Ivanovo region, located east of Moscow. The aircraft had taken off following repair work, suggesting it was undergoing post-maintenance testing when the incident occurred.

Russian authorities confirmed that there were no survivors. While the official statement did not initially specify the number of people onboard, the state-run TASS news agency reported earlier that the plane was carrying seven crew members. All were killed in the crash, marking a tragic loss for the military aviation unit involved.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)