Twelve airmen are found dead in the wrack of the Antonov-22 heavy airlifter that crashed at night of 28/29 December while on training flight from Voronezh to the Migalovo aerodrome in Tver region.

On 28 December, at about 21:00, the Russian air force Antonov An-22 got airborne from the Voronezh. It carried 12 airmen forming two crews and no cargo. Less than an hour later, residents of the village of Red October saw low-flying airplane and then heard sounds of explosion.

The An-22 disappeared from radar screens on 21:30 at the border of Tula and Orlov regions. About 2:36am wracks were sighted 100km south of Tula.

About 50 rescuers work on the site near the village of Troitskoye, the governor of Tula Region, among them. The official representative of the Investigating Committee Vladimir Markin confirmed that all 12 people onboard died in the crash. Flight recorders are found and sent for decoding.

The An-22, also referred to as the Antei by its developers and Cock by NATO, took to the air for the first time in 1965. Seven crashes have been registered. The Russian air force had plans to withdraw the type earlier this century as outdated and aged, but later made decision to keep remaining examples in service for awhile. In addition to Russian air force, Antonov Airlines operate one aircraft on outsized cargo charters.