The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency denied on Tuesday earlier reports that remains of a crashed An-12 aircraft in Russia's Far East were discovered.
The Far East Transport Prosecutor's Office reported earlier that the crashed An-12 transport aircraft with eleven people on board was discovered near a gold and silver mine in the Omsukcha district of the Magadan region.
"The aircraft was not found. It is currently nighttime in the search area and it also raining heavily, complicating rescue efforts," Sergei Izvolsky, a spokesman for the transport agency, said.
The An-12 transport plane carrying nine crew members, two passengers and 16 metric tons of food disappeared at 7:34 a.m. Moscow time (03:34 GMT) some 300 kilometers from its take-off point.
The aircraft belonged to the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft building plant but was leased to Khabarovsk-based Avis-Amur air carrier, the Prosecutor's Office said
It went off radar screens after taking off from Magadan to Chukotka shortly after reporting a fuel leak and fire in an engine.
Avis-Amur is a local air transport company operating in the remote areas of the Russian Far East with a fleet consisting mainly of helicopters. The company also provides air services during rescue and fire-fighting operations.
The Antonov An-12 entered service in the Soviet Union in 1966. The plane is capable of carrying up to 20 metric tons (44,090 lbs) of cargo and has a pressurized area to accommodate up to 14 passengers between the flight deck and the cargo bay.
Production ceased in 1973 after the Soviet Union produced over 850 civilian and military models, and exported hundreds to friendly states.
The An-12 is now regarded as obsolete and the Russian Air Force is seeking a replacement. In 2009 the United Arab Emirates banned An-12 flights following a series of crashes involving the type, mainly by cargo firms.
Izvolsky said that “the issue of banning An-12 flights is not being considered at the moment.”
“All details of the air accident will be established only in the course of the investigation, which is conducted by the Interstate Aviation Committee. All we know for sure now, is that the crew reported a fuel leak and later a fire in an engine. That was what probably caused the accident,” he added.
