A passenger plane carrying 49 people, including five children, has crashed in Russia's Far Eastern Amur region with initial aerial inspections suggesting there are no survivors.

Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said that they had found the burning fuselage of the Soviet-designed twin turbo prop plane on a hillside south of its planned destination in the town of Tynda.

Images of the reported crash site circulated by Russian state media show debris scattered among dense forest, surrounded by plumes of smoke.

Russia's Interfax news agency said there were adverse weather conditions at the time of the crash, citing unnamed sources in the emergency services. Several Russian news outlets also reported that the aircraft was almost 50 years old, citing data taken from the plane's tail number.

The plane was operated by a Siberia-based airline called Angara. It was en route from the city of Blagoveshchensk to Tynda and dropped off radar screens while approaching Tynda, a remote town in the Amur region bordering China.

Debris from the plane was found on a hill around 15km (10 miles) from Tynda, the Interfax news agency quoted emergency service officials as saying.

"During the search operation, a Mi-8 helicopter belonging to Rossaviatsiya discovered the fuselage of the aircraft, which was on fire," Yuliya Petina, an emergency services official, wrote on Telegram.

"Rescuers continue to make their way to the scene of the accident".

There were 43 passengers, including five children, and six crew members on board according to preliminary data, Vasily Orlov, the regional governor said.

The emergencies ministry put the number of people on board somewhat lower, at around 40.

Authorities announced an investigation into the crash.

The federal Russian government said it had set up a commission to deal with the aftermath of the crash and authorities announced an investigation into the cause.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had been notified of the crash.

An An-24 aircraft of Angara Airlines. – Reuters file

'Flying tractors'

Angara airline is based in the Siberian city of Irkutsk and serves airports in Siberia and Russia's far east. It operates 10 An-24s built between 1972 and 1976, according to the RussianPlanes web-portal.

Angara was one of two Siberian airlines that last year asked the Russian government to extend the service life of the Antonov aircraft, many of which are over 50 years old, as Russian planemakers scramble to plug the gap left by an exodus of foreign manufacturers.

Nicknamed "flying tractors" by some, the propeller-driven An-24s are regarded as reliable workhorses by the Russian aviation industry and are well-suited to the harsh conditions in Siberia as they are able to operate in sub-zero conditions and don't have to land on runways.

But airline executives, pilots and industry experts say the cost of maintaining the Antonovs – which make up a fraction of Russia's fleet of over 1000 passenger planes – has increased after Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine hit investment and access to parts.

Many of the planes were due to be retired from service in the coming years, but regional airlines are trying to keep them flying until a replacement enters into service as they say there is no alternative until then.

Mass production of the new Ladoga aircraft, the same class as the An-24, is not due to begin until 2027 at the earliest.