The An-26 was performing a "technical flight" when its communication systems stopped sending signals 38 kilometers from the Khabarovsk city airport, the ministry said. A Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) helicopter and a rescue team have been dispatched to find the missing aircraft.
"The search is complicated by the dark time of day and unfavorable weather conditions," the Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Citing an unnamed source, Interfax reported that the plane is believed to have crashed in the Bolshekhekhtsirsky Nature Reserve outside Khabarovsk while performing a low-altitude flight at 600 meters.
and then 0 meters
It added that the An-26 has been in operation since 1979 and was used by the company Flight Inspections and Systems as an "air laboratory" for the past 15 years.
Emergency services cited by media said that the An-26 was due to test communication systems during the flight.