Afghan airliner (737?) reported missing in freak weather
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Consider the source, but:
Missing Afghan airliner safe and sound
www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-04 11:19:55
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet)-- An Afghan passenger airplane believed missing late Thursday has landed in an airport in neighboring Pakistan, airliner sources told Xinhua Friday morning.
An official working with Kam Air, Afghanistan's sole private airline operator, told Xinhua in an exclusive telephone interview that the Boeing 737, scheduled to fly back from western border city of Herat to the capital of Kabul, was diverted on way to its destination to the Peshawar airport due to an unprecedented snow storm in the area.
"Now the airplane is in Peshawar," he said. "And 36 passengers among a total of some 100 will be flown to their destination today if weather permits."
Kam Air started operation in 2003 with the backbone of its flight fleet comprising second-hand Boeing 737s on lease from Western countries. It operated mainly domestic airlines linking Kabul with Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar in the south
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2546370.htm
Missing Afghan airliner safe and sound
www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-04 11:19:55
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet)-- An Afghan passenger airplane believed missing late Thursday has landed in an airport in neighboring Pakistan, airliner sources told Xinhua Friday morning.
An official working with Kam Air, Afghanistan's sole private airline operator, told Xinhua in an exclusive telephone interview that the Boeing 737, scheduled to fly back from western border city of Herat to the capital of Kabul, was diverted on way to its destination to the Peshawar airport due to an unprecedented snow storm in the area.
"Now the airplane is in Peshawar," he said. "And 36 passengers among a total of some 100 will be flown to their destination today if weather permits."
Kam Air started operation in 2003 with the backbone of its flight fleet comprising second-hand Boeing 737s on lease from Western countries. It operated mainly domestic airlines linking Kabul with Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar in the south
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2546370.htm
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According to Norwegian media, the plane is still missing. - Also looked at the link to Xinhua news agency and they now report "still missing":
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2546684.htm
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Independent sources confirmed Friday morning that an Afghan private airliner that was scheduled to landin the capital Thursday afternoon is still unaccounted for 18 hours after its takeoff in west Afghanistan.
Haji Timar, chief of Kabul International Airport, told Xinhua that the Boeing 737 is still missing after an overnight frenzied effort to locate it. "It is now still missing," he said.
The plane was missing after being turned away from Kabul airport the previous day due to a snow storm, an airline official said.
Earlier, a representative of Kam Air that owns the distressed airliner said the plane was missing. However, another official whoworked with the Kam Air told Xinhua this morning that the plane has landed safely in Peshawar airport and 36 of the passengers on board will be flown to Kabul if weather permits. He promised to provide more details later.
One of the airliner officials who refused to give his name saidthe plane had landed safely in Islamabad airport, but this can notbe independently confirmed.
Jehangir Khan, operations director of Pakistan's Civil AviationAuthority, said Afghan authorities contacted Pakistan at about 4:50 p.m. Pakistan time (1150 GMT) regarding the missing aircraft, but it had not entered Pakistani air space.
A spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan said the plane had been reported missing to them. It had not landed at any US-led coalition airfields in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Ministry of Transportation is to give a news conference at 11:00 a.m. Friday, possibly will make public the fate of the airplane.
The distraught airplane carried 96 passengers and eight crew members. The airline has contacted all neighboring countries as well as ISAF and US-led coalition for help.
The Peshawar airport authorities said later Thursday two airliners had landed in the airport, but later denied the information. Peshawar is the nearest airport that the Kam Air airplane should land at.
Kam Air is a private airliner that started operation in November 2003. It has four Boeing 737s and some Russian-made airplanes. It is based in northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and has its maintenance base in Dubai. Except two Afghan air stewardesses, all of its crew are foreigners. A Russian airline also has a sharein the venture.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2546684.htm
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Independent sources confirmed Friday morning that an Afghan private airliner that was scheduled to landin the capital Thursday afternoon is still unaccounted for 18 hours after its takeoff in west Afghanistan.
Haji Timar, chief of Kabul International Airport, told Xinhua that the Boeing 737 is still missing after an overnight frenzied effort to locate it. "It is now still missing," he said.
The plane was missing after being turned away from Kabul airport the previous day due to a snow storm, an airline official said.
Earlier, a representative of Kam Air that owns the distressed airliner said the plane was missing. However, another official whoworked with the Kam Air told Xinhua this morning that the plane has landed safely in Peshawar airport and 36 of the passengers on board will be flown to Kabul if weather permits. He promised to provide more details later.
One of the airliner officials who refused to give his name saidthe plane had landed safely in Islamabad airport, but this can notbe independently confirmed.
Jehangir Khan, operations director of Pakistan's Civil AviationAuthority, said Afghan authorities contacted Pakistan at about 4:50 p.m. Pakistan time (1150 GMT) regarding the missing aircraft, but it had not entered Pakistani air space.
A spokesman for the US military in Afghanistan said the plane had been reported missing to them. It had not landed at any US-led coalition airfields in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Ministry of Transportation is to give a news conference at 11:00 a.m. Friday, possibly will make public the fate of the airplane.
The distraught airplane carried 96 passengers and eight crew members. The airline has contacted all neighboring countries as well as ISAF and US-led coalition for help.
The Peshawar airport authorities said later Thursday two airliners had landed in the airport, but later denied the information. Peshawar is the nearest airport that the Kam Air airplane should land at.
Kam Air is a private airliner that started operation in November 2003. It has four Boeing 737s and some Russian-made airplanes. It is based in northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and has its maintenance base in Dubai. Except two Afghan air stewardesses, all of its crew are foreigners. A Russian airline also has a sharein the venture.
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_2546684.htm
Sadly the story that the a/c was found has been revoked.
Sadly the story that the a/c was found has been revoked.
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we spoke to the Peshawar ATC who said it did not land and their vis was as well below minimas at that time. Only hope might be it landed in Saidu Sharif (most unlikely because of difficult terrain) or Parachinar...
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Missing Afghan airliner crashed
www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-04 16:51:44
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Kam Air Boeing 737 airliner that was missing Thursday afternoon was confirmed at last crashed, local media said Friday.
The airliner, carrying 96 passengers, was traveling from the western city of Herat to the capital since late Thursday afternoon.On board the plane were also six Russian crew members and two Afghan staff.
International peacekeepers and the Afghan military were mobilized to search for the plane in the northern mountain area. Enditem
www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-04 16:51:44
KABUL, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Kam Air Boeing 737 airliner that was missing Thursday afternoon was confirmed at last crashed, local media said Friday.
The airliner, carrying 96 passengers, was traveling from the western city of Herat to the capital since late Thursday afternoon.On board the plane were also six Russian crew members and two Afghan staff.
International peacekeepers and the Afghan military were mobilized to search for the plane in the northern mountain area. Enditem
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Last radar contact was about 3 miles east of Kabul.
See CNN story.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...ane/index.html
See CNN story.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...ane/index.html
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Operator is Phoenix Aviation, AOC based in Kyrgyzstan, planes also EX- registered, airline de-facto is based in Emirates, crewed mostly by ex-USSR pilots. Aircraft was wetleased from them to Kam Air.
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Cargone, are you a hundred percent certain of the info - I am not in any way questioning its veracity, but the guys at Phoenix are friends and customers of mine (and I feared it was them) and I want to be 101% certain before sending a condolence message.
Thanks TimS
Thanks TimS
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Last time (November) I was with their management, the 737 fleet was 15 if I remember correctly, mainly 200s but a couple of 300s recently introduced (under UAE CofA - and AOC I believe - , together with their recently added 767-200).
TimS
added - a fleet of three 200s is shown on their website (www.phoenixuae.com) but that is well out of date
TimS
added - a fleet of three 200s is shown on their website (www.phoenixuae.com) but that is well out of date
Last edited by TimS; 4th Feb 2005 at 12:21.
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TimS, eal401,
The data is 100% accurate and sourced from my colleagues on sites at DXB, SHJ and KBL. Aircraft is 737-200.
I know Phoenix quite well and of course I would not make such a posting unless I'm 100% sure.
My deepest condolences to them and all affected by this crash.
The data is 100% accurate and sourced from my colleagues on sites at DXB, SHJ and KBL. Aircraft is 737-200.
I know Phoenix quite well and of course I would not make such a posting unless I'm 100% sure.
My deepest condolences to them and all affected by this crash.
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<<The aircraft lost contact with traffic control after being turned away from the airport because of the weather. >>
Hmm... interesting comment on BBC News. Presumably different rules apply there.
Hmm... interesting comment on BBC News. Presumably different rules apply there.
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Once again, the aircraft is now reported not found:
February 4, 2005
Search for Missing Afghan Plane Is Suspended
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:51 a.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- NATO and Afghan forces suspended their ground and air search as darkness closed in Friday for an Afghan passenger jet carrying 104 people after it disappeared from radar screens during a snowstorm near the mountain-ringed capital.
NATO and Afghan Officials denied statements from Turkish officials that parts of the wreckage had been located 20 miles southeast of Kabul, and they said the search would resume Saturday.
The Kam Air Boeing 737-200 took off Thursday from the western Afghan city of Herat bound for Kabul, but was unable to land because of bad weather. The airline initially said the plane was diverted to neighboring Pakistan, but officials there said it never entered their airspace.
Kam Air said there were 96 passengers and a crew of eight -- six Russians and two Afghans -- on the scheduled flight, but the exact number of foreigners was unclear.
A Massachusetts-based aid group said three of its American staff were missing, Turkey said nine of its citizens were on the plane, and Italy said one passenger was Italian.
Kamgar said the eight-member flight crew included six Russians and two Afghans.
Afghanistan's NATO peacekeeping force sent helicopters and ground teams to scour an area of high mountains southeast of the city, where officials said the plane was last reported on Thursday afternoon, but returned to base empty-handed.
Maj. Karen Tissot Van Patot said freezing fog had forced down even the Apache helicopters, which are equipped for night flying. An Associated Press reporter also saw Afghan troops heading back toward Kabul.
``Things will shut down for the night and resume in the morning,'' Patot said, discounting media reports that a piece of the wreckage had been found. ``We'd have heard fairly quickly if anything had turned up.''
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said Afghan troops had also given up for the night. ``They could not find a single piece of the plane,'' he said. ``Tomorrow we will search a wider area.''
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official in Ankara had said Turkish military officers in Kabul confirmed wreckage had been found southeast of Kabul. The Turkish air force is in charge of Kabul airport as part of the NATO peacekeeping mission. The Turkish official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, also said the Afghan Transportation Ministry has confirmed the crash.
But Haroun Rassoul, secretary to the Afghan transport minister, said late Friday there was no confirmation that the plane had crashed. ``We have no precise information about it and the investigation is continuing,'' he said.
Kabul is surrounded by snowcapped mountains, raising the hazards for planes flying in bad weather. The area near the border is so remote that officials suspect militants, including Osama bin Laden, have hidden there since the fall of Afghanistan's former Taliban government in 2001.
The clouds lifted for several hours on Friday afternoon, presenting a chance to find and reach any survivors if the plane had crashed.
Hundreds of Afghan troops were sent to Khaki Jabar, a district southeast of Kabul with few roads and steep ridges rising to more than 13,000 feet. An AP photographer saw two helicopters flying over the area and a column of German armored vehicles moving along a mountain road.
The private airline's mainly domestic flights are popular with Afghans wealthy enough to avoid long journeys over bumpy roads and are also used by aid and reconstruction workers.
Three American women working for Management Sciences for Health, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Mass., were believed to be aboard, said William Schiffbauer, a company representative in Kabul.
Turkey's Prime Ministry said Friday that nine Turks were aboard, and six of them were from a Turkish road contractor called Gulsan-Cukurova, which is working on a U.S.-funded road project in the west, company manager Kurtulus Ergin said.
In Rome, the Italian Defense Ministry said one of the passengers was Capt. Bruno Vianini, who was assigned to a military-sponsored reconstruction project.
Transport Minister Enayatullah Qasemi said the pilot last contacted the Kabul control tower at about 3 p.m. Thursday to ask for a weather update and was cleared for landing by Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military base north of Kabul with overall responsibility for Afghan airspace.
Moments later it disappeared from radar screens, a few miles east of the city.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/inte...rtner=homepage
February 4, 2005
Search for Missing Afghan Plane Is Suspended
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:51 a.m. ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- NATO and Afghan forces suspended their ground and air search as darkness closed in Friday for an Afghan passenger jet carrying 104 people after it disappeared from radar screens during a snowstorm near the mountain-ringed capital.
NATO and Afghan Officials denied statements from Turkish officials that parts of the wreckage had been located 20 miles southeast of Kabul, and they said the search would resume Saturday.
The Kam Air Boeing 737-200 took off Thursday from the western Afghan city of Herat bound for Kabul, but was unable to land because of bad weather. The airline initially said the plane was diverted to neighboring Pakistan, but officials there said it never entered their airspace.
Kam Air said there were 96 passengers and a crew of eight -- six Russians and two Afghans -- on the scheduled flight, but the exact number of foreigners was unclear.
A Massachusetts-based aid group said three of its American staff were missing, Turkey said nine of its citizens were on the plane, and Italy said one passenger was Italian.
Kamgar said the eight-member flight crew included six Russians and two Afghans.
Afghanistan's NATO peacekeeping force sent helicopters and ground teams to scour an area of high mountains southeast of the city, where officials said the plane was last reported on Thursday afternoon, but returned to base empty-handed.
Maj. Karen Tissot Van Patot said freezing fog had forced down even the Apache helicopters, which are equipped for night flying. An Associated Press reporter also saw Afghan troops heading back toward Kabul.
``Things will shut down for the night and resume in the morning,'' Patot said, discounting media reports that a piece of the wreckage had been found. ``We'd have heard fairly quickly if anything had turned up.''
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said Afghan troops had also given up for the night. ``They could not find a single piece of the plane,'' he said. ``Tomorrow we will search a wider area.''
A Turkish Foreign Ministry official in Ankara had said Turkish military officers in Kabul confirmed wreckage had been found southeast of Kabul. The Turkish air force is in charge of Kabul airport as part of the NATO peacekeeping mission. The Turkish official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, also said the Afghan Transportation Ministry has confirmed the crash.
But Haroun Rassoul, secretary to the Afghan transport minister, said late Friday there was no confirmation that the plane had crashed. ``We have no precise information about it and the investigation is continuing,'' he said.
Kabul is surrounded by snowcapped mountains, raising the hazards for planes flying in bad weather. The area near the border is so remote that officials suspect militants, including Osama bin Laden, have hidden there since the fall of Afghanistan's former Taliban government in 2001.
The clouds lifted for several hours on Friday afternoon, presenting a chance to find and reach any survivors if the plane had crashed.
Hundreds of Afghan troops were sent to Khaki Jabar, a district southeast of Kabul with few roads and steep ridges rising to more than 13,000 feet. An AP photographer saw two helicopters flying over the area and a column of German armored vehicles moving along a mountain road.
The private airline's mainly domestic flights are popular with Afghans wealthy enough to avoid long journeys over bumpy roads and are also used by aid and reconstruction workers.
Three American women working for Management Sciences for Health, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Mass., were believed to be aboard, said William Schiffbauer, a company representative in Kabul.
Turkey's Prime Ministry said Friday that nine Turks were aboard, and six of them were from a Turkish road contractor called Gulsan-Cukurova, which is working on a U.S.-funded road project in the west, company manager Kurtulus Ergin said.
In Rome, the Italian Defense Ministry said one of the passengers was Capt. Bruno Vianini, who was assigned to a military-sponsored reconstruction project.
Transport Minister Enayatullah Qasemi said the pilot last contacted the Kabul control tower at about 3 p.m. Thursday to ask for a weather update and was cleared for landing by Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military base north of Kabul with overall responsibility for Afghan airspace.
Moments later it disappeared from radar screens, a few miles east of the city.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/inte...rtner=homepage
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Yes. London Daily Telegraph now reporting that wreckage has been found.
I don't know anything about Afgan Civil Aviaton. The original report said (quote) freak weather diverted the aircraft (unquote) but does snow constitute 'freak' weather in Afghanistan?
I don't know anything about Afgan Civil Aviaton. The original report said (quote) freak weather diverted the aircraft (unquote) but does snow constitute 'freak' weather in Afghanistan?
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
BBC: Afghan airliner wreckage located
The wreckage of an Afghan airliner which disappeared on Thursday has been found in mountains east of the capital, Kabul, Afghan officials say. It was not known whether there were survivors among the 104 people on board. If they are confirmed dead, it will be Afghanistan's worst air crash.
The Kam Air Boeing 737 flight from Herat to Kabul vanished amid heavy snowstorms on Thursday afternoon. It disappeared from radar screens as it was nearing Kabul airport.
There were a number of foreigners on the flight, including nine Turkish nationals, an Italian naval commander, three American aid workers, and an Iranian. The eight crew included six Russians and two Afghans, a spokesman for Kam Air said.
Afghan officials said the missing plane was spotted by a Nato helicopter crew in high, snow-covered mountains near a village about 20km (12 miles) south-east of Kabul. "The wreckage of the plane was found near Band-e Ghazi," Gen Amiri, a senior Afghan commander, told The Associated Press news agency. "It is in high mountains, full of snow. My forces are at the foot of the mountain and we're trying to get a helicopter in there," Gen Amiri said.
A fleet of ambulances has been dispatched from Kabul but a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said all passengers were feared dead. What is not clear at this stage is how difficult it will be for search and rescue teams to ascertain whether anyone is alive and to recover the flight recorders to find out what went wrong, says the BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad.
"The plan is to try and get the ground teams in there," said Maj Karen Tissot Van Patot, a Nato spokeswoman. "But it is very cold."
The wreckage of an Afghan airliner which disappeared on Thursday has been found in mountains east of the capital, Kabul, Afghan officials say. It was not known whether there were survivors among the 104 people on board. If they are confirmed dead, it will be Afghanistan's worst air crash.
The Kam Air Boeing 737 flight from Herat to Kabul vanished amid heavy snowstorms on Thursday afternoon. It disappeared from radar screens as it was nearing Kabul airport.
There were a number of foreigners on the flight, including nine Turkish nationals, an Italian naval commander, three American aid workers, and an Iranian. The eight crew included six Russians and two Afghans, a spokesman for Kam Air said.
Afghan officials said the missing plane was spotted by a Nato helicopter crew in high, snow-covered mountains near a village about 20km (12 miles) south-east of Kabul. "The wreckage of the plane was found near Band-e Ghazi," Gen Amiri, a senior Afghan commander, told The Associated Press news agency. "It is in high mountains, full of snow. My forces are at the foot of the mountain and we're trying to get a helicopter in there," Gen Amiri said.
A fleet of ambulances has been dispatched from Kabul but a spokesman for the Afghan interior ministry said all passengers were feared dead. What is not clear at this stage is how difficult it will be for search and rescue teams to ascertain whether anyone is alive and to recover the flight recorders to find out what went wrong, says the BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad.
"The plan is to try and get the ground teams in there," said Maj Karen Tissot Van Patot, a Nato spokeswoman. "But it is very cold."