Afghan plane crash: Not an Indian scheduled aircraft or charter, says govt (Ld)

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Sunday said that the unfortunate plane crash that occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft.

“As per available information, the crashed aircraft is a DF-10 (Dassault Falcon) small aircraft registered in Morocco. It is not an aircraft of Indian carriers. The aircraft was an air ambulance and was flying from Thailand to Moscow and did refuelling at Gaya Airport,” said a senior MoCA official.

According to Afghan media, a plane bound for Moscow crashed in the Wakhan region of Badakhshan in Afghanistan.

The head of information and culture for the Taliban in Badakhshan has confirmed the incident, revealing that the passenger plane went down in the Topkhane Mountain, spanning across the Kuran-Manjan and Zibak districts within the province.

There were two pilots and four passengers on the aircraft, as per reports.

As of the current moment, official sources have not disclosed information regarding casualties or the cause of the crash.

The Taliban's police command in Badakhshan has reported that the plane, which disappeared from radar the night before, crashed in the elevated mountains of the Topkhana area.

Afghan's AMU TV stated that this region covers the Zibak and Kuran-Munjan districts of the province.