Baku (Azerbaijan): An Azerbaijani airline
company says it has halted all flights to Afghanistan after
one of its cargo planes crashed in Afghanistan`s east.
The Russian-designed Ilyushin-76 plane flying from
Baku and owned by the Silk Way airline company burst into
flames after hitting a remote mountaintop on Tuesday. The
nine-member crew was killed.
Silk Way`s president Zaur Akhundov told reporters
today that the company has suspended all flights to
Afghanistan pending the investigation into the crash.
Aircraft are used extensively in Afghanistan by both
NATO and Afghan government forces to transport and supply
troops. Silk Way used to send cargo planes to Afghanistan five
times a day.
Ikham Amirov, who is heading the crash investigation,
said the cause of the crash has not been established.
PTI
