Forced landing for Russian plane as engines fail; all safe

Emergency officials say a small Russian passenger plane with 18 people on board made an emergency landing Friday in Siberia after both engines failed, with the captain breaking his leg but no one else suffering serious injuries

Russia Missing Plane (RIA Tomsk)

A small Russian passenger plane with 18 people on board made an emergency landing Friday in Siberia after both engines failed, with the captain breaking his leg but no one else suffering serious injuries, authorities said.

Soon after the An-28 plane disappeared in the Tomsk region in western Siberia, rescue helicopters spotted it in a field. The plane landed with its gear extended but then overturned. A video from the site showed it lying upside down.

A rescue helicopter flew the passengers and crew to the city of Tomsk. The captain, Anatoly Prytkov, who had his leg broken, was helped off. The second pilot, Farukh Khasanov, said the crew had to make an emergency landing because both of the plane's engines cut off, the Tass news agency reported.

Officials initially said the plane carried 17 people and had updated the number to 19 before they revised it again.

The An-28 is a small short-range, Soviet-designed turboprop used by many small carriers across Russia and some other countries. The plane belongs to the local SiLA airline and was flying from the town of Kedrovoye to Tomsk.

Authorities launched an investigation of whether the airline had complied with regulations.

The flight crew hadn't reported any problems before the plane disappeared, but the plane's emergency beacon activated during the flight, signaling that the aircraft had made a forced landing or crashed.

The incident comes 10 days after another Russian plane crashed while preparing to land in bad weather on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East killing all 28 people on board. The investigation into the crash of that An-26 plane is ongoing.