MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. Aviation of the Russian Defense Ministry has initiated the search for the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Ilyushin Il-76 plane that went missing in the Irkutsk region on Friday morning, the ministry press service reported.

"By order of the Russian defense minister, two helicopters of the army aviation have started rendering assistance to the group involved in the search for the Emergencies Ministry’s Il-76 plane that went missing in the Irkutsk region," the Defense Ministry said.

Two more planes - an Antonov An-12 and An-26 of the Russian Aerospace Forces will soon be redeployed from the airfield in the Novosibirsk region to an airdrome in Bratsk from where they will fly to search for the missing Il-76.

The Il-76 plane did not go on the air for a radio contact at 06:30 am, Moscow time on Friday. The plane was equipped with an airborne spray tank for fighting wildfires in the Bayandayevsky district of the Irkutsk region. Only the crew comprising 10 people was on board. The plane disappeared in a remote area. The Emergencies Ministry sent about 100 rescuers for the search. Nine aircraft are currently involved in the search operation.