IRKUTSK, December 28 (RIA Novosti) – The bodies of all victims of a recent plane crash outside the east Siberian city of Irkutsk have been identified, a spokesman for the regional investigation department said Saturday.
The Antonov An-12 (Cub) transport plane crashed on Thursday afternoon, killing all six crew members and three individuals accompanying the cargo on board. Officials said all victims were residents of the Irkutsk region.
The plane’s flight recorders have been discovered and handed to a Trade and Industry Ministry commission investigating the crash, investigators said.
Investigators named a possible pilot error, plane breakdown and poor weather as likely reasons for the crash.
A number of An-12s have been involved in fatal accidents in recent years, including one operated by Russian charter firm Avis-Amur that crashed in Russia's Far East in August 2011, killing all 11 on board, following a fire caused by a fuel leak.
The last Soviet-built An-12 rolled off the production line in 1973.
Pilots generally praise the An-12 as a sound design, and it has a good safety record in its long service with the Russian Air Force. Many, however, are now operated by small airlines, often based in third-world countries, that fail to properly maintain their planes or overload them in a bid to make extra profit.
