A passenger plane with nearly 50 people on board crashed in a remote area in Russia's Far East, in the Amur region, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said.

The twin-engine Antonov-24 aircraft, operated by Angara Airlines, was flying from Blagoveshchensk to Tinda when it disappeared from radar at around 1:00 p.m. local time, AFP reported.

A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a wooded mountainside about 16 kilometers from Tinda.

Videos posted by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke rising from the wreckage in a dense, wooded area.

Rescuers in the helicopter saw no signs of survivors. The Amur region's civil defense said it was sending a team to the site.

"Twenty-five people and five pieces of equipment have been dispatched, and four aircraft with crews are on standby," the statement said.

The forested terrain is hampering access to the site, a rescuer told the state news agency TASS.

"The main rescue operations are being carried out from the air," he added.

Angara Airlines, a small regional airline based in the Russian city of Irkutsk, has not made an immediate public comment.

According to regional governor Vasily Orlov, there were 43 passengers and six crew members on board the plane.

Five children were among the passengers, he added.

The Russian state news agency TASS, citing emergency services, reported that 40 passengers and six crew members were on board the plane.

The plane crashed while attempting a second landing at the airport in Tinda, the Far East prosecutor's office said.

"As it approached the airport in Tinda, the plane made a second attempt to land, after which contact was lost," the statement said.

The circumstances are being investigated.

There were no immediate comments on the causes of the crash.

The state news agency TASS said the plane was manufactured almost 50 years ago.

"In 2021, the aircraft's airworthiness certificate was extended until 2036," the agency said.

The Antonov-24 is a popular twin-propeller aircraft designed in the Soviet Union, which first entered service in 1959.

In recent years, Russia has taken steps to transition from Soviet-era aircraft to modern jet aircraft, but the aging light aircraft are still widely used in remote areas where accidents are common. | BGNES