MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - A senior Russian air force commander was killed when a military transport aircraft crashed in Russian-controlled Crimea last week killing 30 people, according to a senior
Senior Russian commander killed in March air crash, official says
Details and Background of the Air Crash
(Corrects April 6 story, paragraph 2, to show Otroshchenko was commander of the Mixed Air Force Corps of the Northern Fleet, not commander of the 45th Army of the Northern Fleet's Air Force and Air Defence)
Incident Overview
MOSCOW, April 6 (Reuters) - A senior Russian air force commander was killed when a military transport aircraft crashed nL1N40J1F3 in Russian-controlled Crimea last week killing 30 people, according to a senior official cited by Russian media on Monday.
Victim Identification
Alexander Otroshchenko, commander of the Mixed Air Force Corps of the Northern Fleet, died in the crash, Andrei Chibis, governor of the northern Murmansk region where the fleet is based, was quoted as saying.
Crash Details
The An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea on March 31. Russia's Defence Ministry said shortly afterwards that the preliminary cause was technical malfunction.
An-26 Aircraft History
Service Record
The An-26 has been in service since the late 1960s and has also been used by airlines to carry freight, but the model has been involved in a number of deadly crashes over the last decade.
Notable Past Crashes
Ukraine Incidents
A Ukrainian An-26 crashed during a flight in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region in 2022, killing one person. Another aircraft crashed on a training flight in northeastern Ukraine in 2020, killing all but one of the 27 people on board.
International Incidents
Eight people, including five Russians, were killed when an An-26 crashed in South Sudan in 2020. Four of 10 people on board were killed when an An-26 crashed on landing in Ivory Coast in West Africa in 2017.
Reporting Credits
(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light,Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
