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Plane down

December 29, 2010

A Russian military cargo plane crashed late on Tuesday during a training exercise, leaving a dozen crew members missing and presumed dead. Authorities have launched a criminal probe into the accident.

https://p.dw.com/p/zqzz
Antonov An-22
The plane that crashed was an Antonov An-22, the world's largest propeller planeImage: picture alliance/dpa

A military cargo plane crashed during a training exercise in central Russia, leaving all 12 aboard missing and presumed dead, officials announced on Wednesday.

The Antonov An-22, which entered service in 1974, was carrying a six-member flight crew and another spare crew of the same size on its way from Vonorezh to Tver in central Russia, when it disappeared from radar screens late on Tuesday.

The plane's scattered remains were found in a field outside of the village of Troitskoye in the Tula region, where the impact left a five-meter (16.4 foot) crater, according to Moscow military spokeswoman Natalya Zemskova.

Zemskova said no bodies had been found and that all aboard the plane were presumed dead.

Investigators have opened a criminal probe into the accident, she said, adding that it was too early to say what caused the crash.

Author: David Levitz (AFP, dpa)

Editor: Chuck Penfold

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