Regardless, the airlines had had complaints just weeks before by other passengers on the same plane. Pamir Airways simply dismissed these concerns. The plane had been delayed due to poor visibility and weather. Despite this, the pilots invited a passenger into the cockpit. There are also reports that a transponder had not been installed in the cockpit and this, amongst other basic equipment, could have prevented such an accident, or at least could have sped up the recovery process of the plane.
NATO sent recovery efforts to the last known position of the planes; however, due to the notoriously treacherous mountain locations, the team had to turn around. Heavy fog and snow and of course the Hindu Kush mountains made it nearly impossible for the search team to see anything.
The Antonov An-24 is around 60 years old, and an updated model is still being updated. These planes are only used in developing countries and are cheap and easy to maintain, though they do not feature more modern functionality. The An-24 was the only one that Pamir Airways had; they now operate a fleet of 5 planes - all variations of a Boeing 737 (likely a much safer alternative).
Pamir Airways, which literally translates to "roof of the world."
To the right is a photo of the 737 with the Pamir livery - it's actually quite pretty.
Pamir denied that any complaints had been made and statements made declared that no one extra would have fit in the cockpit alongside the two very capable pilots. However, the Afghanistan ministry of transport continues to be short-staffed and does not have all of the appropriate resources to enforce some of the most important regulations. It looks like that it is likely that Pamir will not be penalized for these allegations.
