A small plane has crashed at the Fakhrobod flying club in Khalon province killing the plane’s pilot and injuring a copilot.
The tragedy took place on August 4. The Russian-manufactured single-engine biplane aircraft Antonov-2 reportedly crashed while trying to land after transporting eight skydivers.
Abduraqib Qodirov, a spokesman for Tajikistan’s Society for Army Assistance, says the plane made a hard landing and partially collapsed.
According to him, the plane’s pilot Ilhom Rahmatov, 60, died after being taken to a hospital in Khuroson district and the copilot Bakhtiyor Davlatov, 20, is being treated for his injuries.
The spokesman says the aircraft’s engine had stopped working “for unknown reasons.”
Meanwhile, Tajik state-run news agency Khovar says the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) has launched an investigation into the incident.
The Fakhrobod flying club was established in 1936 and in the Soviet period, it has turned out several thousand athletes and several dozen champions.
The crashed Antobov-2 was manufactured in 1978.
The Antonov An-2 is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau beginning in 1946. Its remarkable durability, high lifting power, and ability to take off and land from poor runways have given it a long service life. The An-2 was produced up to 2001 and remains in service with military and civilian operators around the world.
The An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in forestry and agriculture. However, the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants of the type have been developed.
