17 Killed as Military Plane Crashes in Northwest Russia
Seventeen people, including the commander of the military district that includes St. Petersburg, were killed when a military plane crashed while taking off from an airport in northwest Russia on Tuesday, an air force spokesman said.
The crash was the latest in a long series of accidents involving former Soviet aircraft.
The spokesman said seven crew members and 10 passengers, including Col. Gen. Sergei Seleznyov and his wife, were aboard the Antonov-12 plane when it crashed after leaving the Andriapol air base near the city of Pskov about 2 p.m.
“Most of the people on board were military personnel,” the spokesman said. He said the plane was a cargo aircraft with a capacity of 14 tons.
The plane was en route to Krasnodar from St. Petersburg and had stopped in Andriapol to pick up six additional passengers, the Interfax news agency said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
