OREANDA-NEWS. July 04, 2012. UTair Aviation has dedicated additional helicopter and manpower to the search for a Antonov An-2 aircraft that disappeared sometime on June 11 in the Sverdlovsk region. UTair has deployed total of five helicopters and 14 search and rescue personnel in the operation.

The An-2 aircraft made an unauthorized took off from Serov airfield in the Sverdlovsk region on June 11 and has since not returned. Nothing is known about the pilot's intended purpopse for the flight. In addition to the pilot, 12 passengers are known to have been aboard the plane. The search for the missing aircraft has since involved more than a thousand people, many of them voluneteers, and professional rescue personel from Tyumen, Khanty-Mansiisk and Kurgan, as well as members of the Ural regional search and rescue team, members of the Sverdlovsk region Internal Affairs, Emergency Ministry and volunteers.

Two UTair Mi-8Ts have been involved in the 90,000 sq km SAR operation since the plane went missing on June 11.  At the request of Russian Aviation safety watchdog Rosaviatsia and the Governor of the Sverdlovsk region the airline provided an additional two AS-350B3 and one BO-105 helicopters.

In addition to crew members the onboard team includes rescue team workers from an Urals based search and rescue center with safety equipment and medical supplies.