On 19 January 2006, an Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, near the village of Hejce and town of Telkibánya. The airplane was carrying Slovak peacekeepers from

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Of the 43 people on board, only one survived. The crash remains the deadliest in Hungarian and Slovak history.

Background

The airplane involved in the crash was an Antonov An-24V, the 50-seat version of the Antonov An-24, a twin

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

transport aircraft. The aircraft was manufactured on 31 October 1969 in the

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with the

serial number A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...

97305605. The airplane was carrying Slovak peacekeepers who had finished a six-month tour of duty in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's KFOR mission in

. The airplane was flying from Pristina International Airport in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

Košice International Airport Košice International Airport () is an international airport serving Košice, Slovakia. It is the second largest international airport in Slovakia. It is located to the south of St Elisabeth Cathedral, Metres above sea level, above sea level, c ...

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Crash

At around 19:38 CET (18:38 GMT), the aircraft disappeared from air traffic controllers' radar screens. The aircraft crashed in snowy and forested terrain on Borsó Hill at an elevation of 700 meters (2,300 feet) near the Hungarian villages of Hejce and Telkibánya. The crash site is about from Košice and about from the Slovak border. According to the Hungarian Disaster Management Agency, the plane hit the tops of trees before catching fire and crashing. Tibor Dobson, of the disaster prevention unit of Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, was quoted as saying that bodies and wreckage were scattered over a large area, and Hungarian police spokesman László Garamvölgyi was quoted as saying that it was at the crash site and that the fuselage was completely burnt out.

Emergency response

Emergency workers who arrived at the scene were tasked not only with looking for survivors, but also with putting out the fire at the crash site. Hungarian authorities reported that the heavily wooded and steep terrain, as well as the low temperatures, contributed to the destruction and hampered rescue efforts. It was also reported that helicopters were unable to land at the crash site. Access was also made difficult because the road leading to the site was covered in snow. Michaela Farkasova, the wife of the sole surviving passenger, reported that she received a cellular telephone call from her husband, Martin Farkaš. She said that she received the call around 19:30 CET (18:30 GMT). She is quoted as saying that her husband told her that his plane had crashed in a forest. Shortly before the line went dead, he asked her to alert rescue services and the police.

Sole survivor

The sole survivor of the crash was Slovak Army First Lieutenant Martin Farkaš. He suffered minor brain swelling and lung injuries in the crash and was transported to Košice for further treatment afterwards. He was put into a medically induced coma, but he was soon reported to be in a stable condition. According to rescuers, his survival was pure luck as he was found in the aircraft's lavatory, which received little damage.

Reactions and aftermath

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Ambassador to Slovakia Rodolphe Vallee released a statement on 30 January expressing his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, to the Slovak Armed Forces, and to the Slovak Republic.

Secretary General of NATO The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance with 32 member states. The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinat ...

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement hours after the incident in which he expressed his condolences.

Memorials

Immediately after the crash, flags were lowered to half-staff and sirens sounded as a tribute to the victims. On 30 March 2006, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Major General R. Martin Umbarger, Commanding General for the Indiana Army National Guard, presented a memorial to Slovak Army Major General Peter Gajdoš at a ceremony at the Slovak Ministry of Defense building in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. On 27 March the memorial travelled to Prešov and on 29 March to

Trebišov Trebišov (; ; ) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machine (Vagónka) and building materials industries. History Th ...

before returning to Bratislava. On 18 September 2006, the government of Slovakia allocated 1.5 million koruna from its reserve fund to build a memorial in the Hungarian village of Hejce, near the crash site. The Defence Ministry of Slovakia was able to raise 1.496 million koruna through fundraising. The Slovak Cabinet committed to match public donations and earmarked 1.5 million koruna. The memorial cost around 4.5 million koruna. On 19 January 2007, the first anniversary of the crash was commemorated by the victims' loved ones, Martin Farkaš and his wife, and the Slovak and Hungarian militaries. Among those attending was Slovak Defence Minister František Kašický, Slovak Army Chief of Staff Ľubomír Bulík, Hungarian Defence State Secretary József Bali, and Hungarian Deputy Army Chief of Staff János Mikita. The attendees laid wreaths and flowers and lit candles at the crash site. Also in the ceremony, Slovak and Hungarian clergy blessed the cornerstone of a monument to the victims that will be near a local church in the Hungarian village of Hejce. File:Rozlúčka s obeťami pádu lietadla 2006 Prešov 18 Slovakia.jpg, State memorial service in

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

City Sport Hall, 26 January 2006. File:KFOR Slovakian Memorial.JPG, Memorial to the victims of the crash commissioned by the KFOR File:Hejce emlékmű 4.JPG, Memorial of the victims on the Borsó Hill

Investigation

According to Tibor Dobson of the disaster prevention unit of Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, the aircraft had strayed off the flight path outlined in the

flight plan Flight plans are documents filed by a aviator, pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g., the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned ...

after Slovak

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

lers had taken over the flight from Hungarian controllers. The investigation indicates that the pilot descended too early in the dark towards the lights of

References

External links

Pre-accident pictures of the aircraft

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crash, 2006 2006 disasters in Hungary 2006 in international relations 2006 in Slovakia January 2006 in Europe Aviation accidents and incidents in 2006 Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Aviation accidents and incidents in Hungary Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-24 Aviation accidents and incidents in Slovakia Aviation accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Antonov An-24 crash Hungary–Kosovo relations Antonov An-24 crash