MOSCOW, May 9. /TASS/: An improvised light plane that crash landed in the Republic of Tatarstan in the Volga area, killing two, was apparently hijacked, a source in law-enforcement agencies told TASS on Sunday.
"According to preliminary data, the plane was hijacked by two individuals from the Alemetyevsk aeroclub, which operates the plane. Both of them died," the source said.
According to the source’s data, the light plane crashed almost immediately after it took off, some 900 m from the runway of the Poima aerodrome.
The republic’s Prosecutor’s Office told reporters that a 51-year-old resident of the town of Bugulma was the plane’s owner while those killed in the crash landing were residents of other districts. "Those dead are a resident of Syzran and a female passenger (her identity is being established," the Prosecutor’s Office specified.
The press office of the Volga Area Transport Investigative Department of Russia’s Investigative Committee told TASS that information on the plane’s hijacking was being investigated. "‘It is difficult to say exactly yet. [The version of the plane’s hijacking] is being checked," the press office said.
As was reported earlier on Sunday, a Yermak-type improvised light plane crash landed near the village of Kaleikino in Tatarstan at 12:30. Two people on its board lost their lives. There is no destruction or fire on the ground. The causes of the accident are being established.
