Russia’s aviation authority says it has begun a “partial decoding” of the flight recorders from the Angara Airlines An-24 passenger plane that crashed in the country’s Far East on July 24. The plane went down near the town of Tynda in the Amur region, killing all 48 people on board — six crew members and 42 passengers, including seven children. While the official investigation is ongoing, the deadly crash has raised serious questions about the state of Russia’s aging aviation fleet, which is now in its fourth year under heavy sanctions. To learn more about the An-24 crash, the effects of international isolation, and whether flying in Russia has, in fact, become more dangerous, Meduza spoke with an independent aviation expert.