On 6 July 2011, a Silk Way Airlines Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo aircraft on a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, crashed into a mountainside at an altitude of 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) while descending at night towards Bagram. All nine people on board were killed.[3]
Despite initial claims by Taliban rebels that they had shot down the aircraft, an investigation found no evidence of external interference, while analysis of the flight recorders suggested the crash was a case of controlled flight into terrain.[1][2]
Shortly before arriving at Bagram, the flight disappeared from radar. An air traffic controller in the Afghan capital Kabul, around 40 km (25 mi) away from Bagram, reported seeing a flash in the sky at an altitude of about 4,000 m (13,000 ft) some 25 km (16 mi) away.[5]
It was later confirmed that the aircraft had struck a mountainside at around 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) of altitude. No distress call was received from the crew before contact was lost.[5] The same aircraft had recently flown from Kuwait to Baku without any problem.[6]
The wreckage of the Il-76 was located the following day in the Ghorband District, around 50 km (31 mi) north-west of Kabul. All nine people on board had perished.[4][6][7]
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76TD with Azerbaijani registration 4K-AZ55, serial number 2053420680.[8] Built in 2005, it was operated by Silk Way Holding, a company linked to Azerbaijan Airlines. The aircraft had received its last full technical inspection in February 2011 and had passed a regular technical inspection one month prior to the crash.[5]
Crew
Reports on the nationality of the crew varied, with some reporting five Azerbaijanis and four Uzbeks,[9][10][11] while others six Azerbaijanis and three Uzbeks.[12][4] The captain had logged over 4,500 flying hours at the time of the accident.[5] The pilots in main control of the plane were Uzbek captain Sergei Kuzmin aged 42, Azerbaijani first officer Oleg Marhikhin aged 32, Uzbek flight engineer Vladimir Shatobin aged 52, and Uzbek navigator Igor Zheng aged 44.[4]Also on the plane was an additional crew, consisting of radio operators Elnur Mahmudov and Ahmedjian Khajayev, along with mechanics Afghan Rahimov, Mehman Huseynov and on-board operator Tapdig Gahramanov. [4]
Aftermath
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid stated that the aircraft had been shot down by Taliban rebels who believed it was carrying a shipment of weapons,[4] but Afghan local authorities denied any Taliban involvement.[5]
Despite ISAF stating that no Taliban activity had been reported in the affected area at the time of the crash, several attempts to reach the crash site were met with gunfire.[5][13] The Azerbaijani ambassador to Afghanistan and Pakistan considered that reports indicating technical problems with the aircraft were not true, and that in his opinion the Taliban were indeed responsible for its loss.[14]
Silk Way Airlines temporarily halted its operations to Afghanistan following the accident, resuming them on 21 July.[15][9]
On 25 July, the remains of the crew members were delivered to the Association of Forensic Medical Examination and Pathological Anatomy of the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan in Baku.[2]
On 15 August, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was sent to Moscow. Members of the IAC and representatives of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan successfully downloaded the recorded information. Analysis of the CVR suggested that at the time of the crash, the aircraft was under the captain's command, and that contrary to normal practice, he was flying visually and without assistance from Bagram air traffic control.[2]
The vice-president of the investigative commission also stated that the aircraft had deviated from the established route.[2]
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