Pamir Airways Flight 112 was a scheduled passenger flight from

Kunduz Airport Kunduz Airport is located about southeast of Kunduz (also spelled Konduz), the capital of Kunduz Province in Afghanistan. It is a domestic airport under the country's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), and serves the population ...

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

Kabul International Airport Kabul International Airport () is located in the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is one of the country's main international airports, capable of housing over a hundred military and civilian aircraft. It is currently operated by UAE-base ...

in Kabul, Afghanistan. On 17 May 2010, the flight operated by an

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/ Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by the Kyiv ...

crashed into terrain shortly before it was scheduled to land in Kabul, killing all 39 passengers and 5 crew.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an

, manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 27307903, registration YA-PIS. The aircraft first flew in 1972 and had been bought by Pamir Airways in February 2010, having spent some time in storage in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

The flight

Flight 112 departed Kunduz at 8:30 am local time ( UTC+04:30) and all contact with the flight, including on radar, was lost 10 minutes later. Reports stated that the plane crashed in

Salang Pass The Salang Pass ( ''Kutal-i Salang'', el. ) is the primary mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan with Parwan Province, with onward connections to Kabul Province, southern Afghanistan.Kabul International Airport Kabul International Airport () is located in the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is one of the country's main international airports, capable of housing over a hundred military and civilian aircraft. It is currently operated by UAE-base ...

, at a speed of approximately . The wreckage was eventually located only from Kabul. The weather conditions were reported as poor, with a senior military commander describing the weather as "...very bad. It is snowing. There is flooding." An inquest in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

stated that the accident report determined that the cause of the accident was the failure of the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

to maintain adequate clearance from terrain. The crew had contacted

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 ...

to ask for permission to descend. Air traffic control had denied this request, however the crew decided to descend regardless. Air traffic control did not warn the crew they were descending too quickly and into danger. Additionally, the crew misunderstood a

ground proximity warning system A Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines GPWS as a type of ...

alert, either due to language problems or because of previous false alerts.

Rescue attempts

It was reported that the

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

government had requested assistance from the

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 ...

to locate the aircraft. The organisation sent search planes to the last known position of the aircraft, but they were forced to turn back four miles from the believed crash site due to bad weather. The colonel in charge of the southern stretch of the pass said that "the only way they can search is on foot. The helicopters can't get in." The search for the aircraft resumed on the morning of 18 May, and the "crash area" was said to be located later that day, according to Yalda Natiq, the transport ministry's head of communications. However, initial reports that the wreckage of the aircraft had been located late on Tuesday evening (18 May) proved to be false, and the search continued late on Wednesday 19 May. Afghan police, local people and

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) helicopters were involved in the search. The rugged, mountainous terrain, fog and snow again hampered the search. On 20 May, it was announced that the tail section of the aircraft had been spotted. On 21 May, the wreckage was reached by rescuers. "Parts of the crashed plane are lying in front of me. There are a number of bodies scattered around here," acting transport and civil aviation minister Mohammadullah Batash reported by telephone from the crash site, which is from Kabul. It had been thought that the Antonov 24 plane came down around north of the capital. "It is too soon to say that no one has survived. But so far we cannot see anyone alive and the situation here is extreme – cold, snow, wind" he said. ISAF said the crash site was located at an altitude of approximately in the

Shakardara District Shakardara District is situated in the central part of Kabul Province, Afghanistan. It has a population of 3,000 people, with another 10,000 expected to return from abroad (2002 official UNHCR est.). Shakardara district borders Parvan Province ...

of Kabul province.

Passengers and crew

Besides a number of Afghan nationals, six foreigners, including three Britons, were also on board. One American passenger was reported by a State Department source. On 21 May, chief aviation investigator Ghulam Farooq reported that an unknown number of nationals from Australia, Pakistan and Tajikistan were also among the eight foreign passengers aboard the plane. It was reported that up to three Australians may have been on board. As of 22 May, the report remains unconfirmed.

References

External links