TEST FLIGHT

Seven Dead After Military Plane Crash Lands in Russian Reservoir

The Soviet-era plane is scheduled for retirement.

A Russian Antonov AN-22 military transport plane crash-landed in the country’s Ivanovo region, killing all on board, according to multiple news reports. The crash, which occurred on a test flight following maintenance work, saw the plane go down in an uninhabited area about 125 miles northeast of Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement. Seven people were on board the flight, AFP reported, citing the Russian state news agency Tass. The aircraft’s registration is still unknown, they added. Russian media reports that the plane plummeted into a nearby reservoir in the Furmanovsky District, with rescuers so far only able to recover fragments of the destroyed aircraft. The Aviation Safety Network said the dead were five crew and two passengers. Designed in Kyiv in the 1960s, the AN-22 Antei is the world’s largest turboprop-powered transport aircraft and remains in limited service for heavy military logistics. Throughout its 50-plus-year service history, only 68 models were built, and only three are still believed to be in working condition. In 2024, Russian General Vladimir Venediktov said the craft would be retired from active service later that year. Aerospace Global News reported that the strain caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the Kremlin to increasingly rely on outdated Soviet-era technology as the country struggles with severe equipment shortages on the front lines.