An airline, An-148, crashed on the outskirts of Moscow after colliding with a Russian post office helicopter during its take-off. The plane was on the Moscow-Orsk route. A spokesman for the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) confirmed to Ria Novosti that 65 passengers were on board the plane, including at least one child, and six crew members.
Communications with the An-148 were interrupted a few minutes after take-off, at 14.21 Moscow time (12.21 Italian time), and immediately afterwards the plane disappeared from the radar screens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to relatives and friends of the victims and ordered the government to set up a special commission and ordered that the relevant agencies take charge of the search operations.