© AlamyRescue aircraft and teams on foot have covered more than 275,000 square kilometres in search of the AN-2 biplane
Up to 2,000 volunteers and emergency officials and 14 aircraft have been searching at any one time for the AN-2 biplane, which flew without permission from a runway in Serov near Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, at 11pm on June 11.
Relatives of the missing passengers have been left hoping that their loved ones survived a crash and are perhaps alive in a desolate wilderness, like the heroes of the American TV series,
Lost.
A senior policeman in the region, Valery Gorelykh, told reporters after the disappearance that the group had set off on their unscheduled flight after a drinking session. He said one theory was that they intended "to go fishing or to a bathhouse". Thrashing oneself with birch twigs in - sometimes remotely located - steam saunas is a popular Russian pastime.
The rescue operation has been hampered because part of the region is hilly and covered in the dense forest known as "taiga". At least 25 rescuers have received potentially dangerous tick bites and one almost drowned in a swamp.
The plane's pilot, the chief traffic policeman of Serov and another officer, a security guard and the airfield's nightwatchman - who was reportedly wearing slippers - were among those who got on board, along with some of the men's relatives, including at least two women.
