The commander of the Northern Fleet aviation, Otroshchenko, was killed in the crash of the AN-26 in Crimea.

Alexander Otroshchenko, commander of the 45th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Northern Fleet, was among those killed in the crash of an An-26 transport aircraft in Crimea on March 31. This was announced on April 6 by the Governor of the Murmansk region Andrey Chibis.

"Last week, a tragedy occurred, our fighters, soldiers from the North Sea, crashed on a plane in Crimea, among them, unfortunately, fleet aviation commander Alexander Ivanovich Otroshchenko," he said during an operational meeting in the regional government.

Chibis began it with a minute of silence in memory of the Severomorsk residents who died in Crimea.

An AN-26 military aircraft crashed in Crimea. What is known

In the skies over Crimea on March 31, at about 18:00 Moscow time, communication with the AN-26 military transport aircraft was lost during a scheduled flight. There was no damaging effect on the aircraft. Later it became known that the aircraft had crashed, and the crash site was found.

29 people were killed — six crew members and 23 passengers. Among the dead were soldiers of the Northern Fleet. The cause of the crash was that the plane crashed into a cliff. A criminal case has been opened into the incident.

Oleg Smirnov, Chairman of the civil Aviation commission of the Rostransnadzor Public Council, Honored pilot of the USSR, suggested on April 1 that the crash of the An-26 military transport aircraft could have occurred instantly, the pilots might not have had time to contact the dispatcher.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.