© REUTERSFive people have reportedly died after a plane crashed in an emergency landing when it ran out on fuel on route from Spain
The Soviet-designed four-engine plane vanished from radar at 7.10am this morning when it was just over eight miles from its destination airport in Ukraine, emergencies service said in a statement.
One of the surviving crew called the service at 7.29am to report the emergency landing of the plane, which was found a mile from Lviv airport.
The plane was originally used as global cargo transport for the Soviet air force but it is unclear if the plane was being used for the military when it crashed
According to flight data, seven crew members were on board, and reports say one passenger was also in the aircraft.
The plane, which has been in service since 1968, was originally used as global cargo transport for the Soviet air force but it is unclear if the plane was being used for the military when it crashed.
The Ukraine Air Alliance plane was due a planned stopover at Lviv, en route from Vigo in Spain to Istanbul, Vladislav Krikliy said.
According to flight data, seven crew members were on board The Ukrainian Antonov-12 cargo airplane made an emergency landing near the western airport of Lviv The plane was originally used as global cargo transport for the Soviet air force but it is unclear if the plane was being used for the military when it crashed
The emergencies ministry said the plane had a crew of seven, and one other person was escorting the cargo.
It is not clear what that cargo was.
Maxim Sokolyuk, head of Ukraine's state migration service, said: "According to preliminary data, there are casualties.
"An emergency landing was performed in connection with the end of the fuel.
"An investigation into the accident has begun."
The plane is not on fire and the crew are being removed from the aircraft.
The plane came down on soil and vegetation near a football stadium and a cemetery.
Lviv airport has been closed because of the crash.
Yes, it is possible for fuel tanks to spring a leak in flight, but the odds of something like that actually happening is vanishingly small. Even if such should happen, unless the route is over the ocean, an alert crew should be able to land at some intermediate location prior to losing it all. Crashing due to running out of fuel in an airplane is almost always simply sheer stupidity on the part of the aircrew AND the airline/operator.