A Russian-registered charter plane disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan on Saturday with the Indian authorities dispelling the rumors about crash of an Indian jet in the land locked country, the foreign media reported.
The aircraft, engaged in a medical evacuation mission from Thailand’s Utapao Airport in Pattaya to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan, was carrying six individuals, including a critically ill patient and her husband, a private entrepreneur hailing from Volgodonsk in southern Russia.
The pilot transmitted an alert about low fuel roughly 25 minutes before the plane vanished from radar, expressing intentions to attempt a landing at an airport in Tajikistan.
Subsequent communications reported the failure of both engines, as relayed by an unnamed source cited by SHOT news outlet of Russia.
The ownership of the plane lies with the Russian firm Athletic Group LLC, which is now under investigation by Russia’s Investigative Committee to ascertain whether safety protocols were breached.
The Russian embassy in Bangkok confirmed the nature of the flight as a medical evacuation, emphasizing the patient’s Russian citizenship and the journey from a Pattaya hospital.
India’s civil aviation authority clarified that the flight was neither a scheduled commercial service nor an Indian-chartered aircraft. The manifest, disclosed by SHOT, indicates that the entire crew comprised Russian nationals.
A statement from the Taliban-operated Afghan aviation ministry suggested that the plane deviated from its planned route, which excluded Afghan airspace, possibly due to technical issues.
Afghan authorities, including the police and a technical team from the aviation ministry, are actively investigating reports of a crash in a remote, mountainous area in Badakhshan, more than 200 km from the provincial capital Fayzabad.
