Russian plane with 34 onboard lands on frozen river

In the Far East of Russia, a passenger plane carrying 34 people made an emergency landing on a frozen river, presumably due to a pilot error.

The Soviet-era Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by Polar Airlines came to an abrupt stop on Thursday morning on the frozen River Kolyma, not far from land. Fortunately, no one was injured.

The aircraft touched down on the Zyryanka airport runway.

Prosecutors said that initial investigations indicated pilot error was the cause. On board were thirty passengers and four crew members.

Early on Thursday, the Sakha republic’s capital city of Yakutsk in the Far East of Russia saw the departure of Flight PI217.

It was bound for Zyryanka, 1,100km (685 miles) to the north-east, and was due to fly on to another small town in Srednekolymsk before returning to Yakutsk.

Video from one of the passengers showed the plane almost in the centre of the frozen River Kolyma in eastern Siberia. Temperatures in Zyryanka dip to around -40C at this time of year.

Prosecutors said the plane had landed on a sand bank in the river. A trail in the snow revealed how long it had taken to come to a standstill.