Pamir Airways Knew About Faults...

As I briefly reported yesterday, an Antonov An-24 crashed into the mountains not too far from Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday the 17. Three of the individuals who were likely killed are from the UK, and for some reason, news sites are differentiating this from the rest of the passengers for some reason. I don't know why they are more noteworthy than the other 41 people who perished.

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 has been in service since 2005, and has since served thousands of pilgrims to and from Afghanistan.

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.

Recent Plane Crashes

It has not been looking too good for Eastern European flying lately (though when has it ever...?) The Ukrainian company, which has the largest operating airplane in the world (An-225) has had several accidents. This comes not long after Polish officials perished last month when a Tupolev model Tu-154 crahsed on landing. 96 other people died on that flight.

Antonov 225 prop plane

According to planecrashinfo.com, an An-24B on its way to Kunduz Airport crashed over the mountains in Salang pass, Afghanistan. It was operated by Pamir Airlines and on Mar 17, 2010 at around 9:30 in the morning, all 43 were killed when the plane went down, perhaps due to fog, over a mountain pass.

Just two days prior to that on the 15th of May, an An-28 operated by Blue Wing Airlines and carrying 8 passengers and crew, crashed in the woods over Suriname.

The Tu-154 has an "average" safety record, but has been involved in 66 serious accidents; 6 of which have been a result of terrorist activities. Those are frightening statistics. Aeroflot, which is generally pretty reliable, retired them all from service as of January 2010, a smart move in my opinion.

If you have ever seen the show Air Crash Investigation, there have been many survivable plane crashes. I can't recall where I read it, but generally, most plane crashes (41% perhaps?) occur on take off and landing, but they are also the most survivable, which is good news for us. There was one episode in which a New Zealander managed to survive because, as he explained it, he was in the head down position putting his shoes back on. I wish it were as simple as that. I don't think I will be flying in Russia, Poland, or the Ukraine anytime soon, however. Just to be safe.

tupolev tu-154