Two killed as Antonov hits building and bursts into flames

Two people have been killed after an Antonov An-24 veered off a runway in Russia and burst into flames after hitting a building. The Angara Airlines aircraft with 43 passengers and four crew on board flying between Ulan-Ude in Eastern Siberia to Nizhneangarsk on Thursday and was on approach when the left-hand engine reportedly failed. Respected specialist website  The Aviation Herald reported the captain and flight engineer were killed in the accident but said seven people were injured. It said the aircraft landed on Nizhneangarsk's runway 22 in the touchdown zone following a stable approach, rolled out on the center line for some distance, then veered right off the runway, went over soft ground and impacted a building later identified as a sewage plant. The plane had an experienced crew: the captain had 34 years and 15,702 flying hours under his belt and the first officer 20 years of experience and 6,315 flying hours. Russian authorities have begun an investigation into the crash. The Antonov 24 is a twin turboprop aircraft designed in 1957. It first flew in 1959 and more than 100 are still in service worldwide, mostly in Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It has been involved in a long list of crashes and incidents over the years with the Aviation Safety Network recording  170 hull losses. The last serious commercial accident involved a South Airlines flight in 2013 which stalled and crashed on landing at Donetsk International Airport in the Ukraine. Five of the 52 people on board died as a result of the accident atrributed to a loss airspeed and pilot error. The most serious accident involved Africa's Equitorial Express Airlines in 2005 and resulted in 60 deaths.