DUSHANBE, November 5, 2015, Asia-Plus – The Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan has suspended flights of planes of Tajik private air carrier, Asia Airways, after the South Sudan air crash.
“Flights of Asia Airways’ planes were suspended on November 4,” Yusuf Rahmonov, the head of the Civil Aviation Department at the Ministry of Transport (MoT) told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements, the Sudanese authorities have launched investigation into the cause of the crash and the decision on further activity of Asia Airways will be made after the completion of the investigation,” Rahmonov said, noting that they will also check other planes belonging to Asia Airways.
According to him, the Antonov An-12B that crashed in South Sudan was really registered to Asia Airways “but the Tajik air company handed over it to Ala International Ltd (United Arab Emirates).
“The plane is on the list of Asia Airways, but under the contract its owner and operator are responsible for the quality of activity and the plane itself,” said Rahmonov. “Since the plane is on the list of Asia Airways, we have decided to suspend flights of its planes.”
Asia Airways is a Tajik airline based in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The airline provides cargo and passenger services between Tajikistan and countries such as Afghanistan, India, China, Sharja and Iran. The Asia Airways fleet reportedly consists of one Antonov-26, four Antonov-12s, and one Illyushin II-76.
We will recall that a Soviet-era cargo plane with passengers on board crashed on November 4 after taking off from the airport in South Sudan”s capital, killing dozens of people. According to the preliminary data more than 40 people were killed in the crash.
The plane, registration number EY406, had reportedly been on its way to Paloch, in the north of South Sudan.
The six crew were reportedly comprised of five Armenians and one Russian. All the others on the flight were South Sudanese.
India’s
Daily News and Analysis
(
DNA
) reported on November 4 that the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing company, Antonov State Company, which built the plane, said that the decades-old Antonov plane that crashed in South Sudan “was is no state to fly.”
“The An-12B was in no state to fly because it failed to undergo timely technical servicing… that should have included work on extending its resources and exploitation timeframe,” Antonov State Company said in a statement.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the plane”s first flight was in 1971. It was being operated by Allied Services Limited, a logistics company based in South Sudan, at the time of the crash.
