15 Mar 2018 14:14

An-12 accidentally drops silver bars while taking off in Yakutsk

YAKUTSK. March 15 (Interfax) - An Antonov An-12 cargo plane which lost its cargo hold's door while taking off from the Yakutsk Airport was carrying silver, an informed source told Interfax.

"To my knowledge, there were silver bars on board. About 200 bars of the precious metal. Some of the cargo was dropped on the runway," the source said.

He did not say whether all of the bars were picked up.

A preliminary inquiry has begun.

"The door of the cargo hold of the Antonov An-12 plane of Air Nimbus en route from Yakutsk to the Kupol mine via Krasnoyarsk was damaged by dislodged cargo - about 9.3 tonnes of precision metal concentrate in bars owned by the Chukotka Mining and Geological Company - when the plane was taking off from Yakutsk Airport and climbing," the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

No one was hurt.

"Some of the cargo was dropped on the runway. The cargo hold's door fell on part of a local car market free from buildings and vehicles," the statement said.

The cargo hold's door did not cause any material damage, the Russian Investigative Committee's department in Yakutia said.

The plane successfully landed at Yakutsk's Magan Airport.

There is preliminary information that the cargo had been improperly secured.