At least 29 dead as Russian passenger plane crashes in Siberia The ATR-72 twin propeller plane operated by Russia's UTair had taken off from Roschino airport, near Tyumen and was heading towards Surgut, also in Siberia, a ministry spokeswoman said. Russia's aviation industry remains blighted by repeated accidents involving its ageing fleet of planes, with the Soviet-era Tupolev jets having a particularly poor safety record. In April 2010, a plane carrying Polish president Lech Kaczynski and other top officials came down in fog near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people on board. Analysts say such crashes are all too predictable as some industries never recovered from the collapse of the Soviet Union and many planes and ships are nearing the end of their lifespan.