The? crash of? an An-28 propeller plane in? Kamchatka this week was likely caused by? a pilot error in difficult weather conditions, a crash investigator said Thursday.
The? plane, which was carrying 14 people, 10 of? whom died in? the crash, likely tried to? land while still too far from? the runway, the unidentified Kamchatka region investigator told Interfax.
He said that the? plane wreckage was found on? the side of? the 500-meter-high Pyatibratka Mountain near the? town of? Palana and? that the? pilot might not have seen the? slope.
Search and rescue workers retrieved the plane’s two flight recorders on Thursday and planned to send them to Moscow for examination on the circumstances surrounding the crash, Interfax said.
The? An-28, flying from? the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, to? Palana, crashed about 10 kilometers from? Palana during heavy rain showers Wednesday afternoon.
The? investigator said the plane, operated by Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airlines, had lacked a ground proximity warning system, which he said all An-28s and similar aircraft have to install by Oct. 1 under aviation regulations. He did not specify which other aircraft fell under the regulations.?
Meanwhile, three of? the four survivors of? the crash remained in? critical condition Thursday and? were flown from? Palana to? Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the Kamchatka administration said in a statement.
One of? the survivors, Palana chief firefighter Vladimir Shabalkov, said he and? the other three had lived through the? crash only because they had been thrown from? the plane shortly before it slammed into the mountainside, according to the? statement. Shabalkov said the four survivors had been seated in? the tail-area of? the plane.
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