Silk Way Airlines Flight 995
| Industry | Cargo airline |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Baku , Azerbaijan |
| Parent | Silk Way Holding |
| Website | www |
Aviation Incident in Afghanistan
On 6 July 2011, a cargo aircraft operated by Silk Way Airlines, specifically an Ilyushin Il-76TD, was en route from Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. During its nighttime descent towards Bagram, the plane collided with a mountain slope at approximately 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) elevation. Tragically, all nine crew members aboard lost their lives.
Although Taliban forces initially claimed responsibility for downing the aircraft, subsequent investigations uncovered no indications of hostile action. Examination of the flight recorder data concluded that the accident resulted from a controlled flight into terrain scenario without external interference.
Accident
The Il-76 departed from Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku at 21:26 local time (16:26 UTC) on 5 July, carrying 18 tonnes of cargo intended for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stationed in Bagram. The flight was planned to arrive at Bagram at 01:40 local time on 6 July (21:10 UTC on 5 July).
Just prior to its expected arrival at Bagram, the aircraft vanished from radar screens. An air traffic controller based in Kabul, approximately 40 km from Bagram, reported witnessing a bright flash in the sky at an altitude near 4000 meters roughly 25 km away.
Subsequent investigations confirmed that the plane had collided with a mountainside at an elevation of about 3800 meters. There was no distress signal received from the crew before communication ceased. Notably, this same aircraft had recently completed a flight from Kuwait to Baku without incident.
The following day, the Il-76 wreckage was discovered in the Ghorband District, located approximately 50 km northwest of Kabul. Tragically, all nine individuals aboard lost their lives.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76TD registered as 4K-AZ55 with serial number 2053420680. Manufactured in 2005, it was operated by Silk Way Holding, an affiliate of Azerbaijan Airlines. Its most recent comprehensive technical inspection occurred in February 2011, and it had successfully passed a routine maintenance check just one month before the accident.
Crew
Details regarding the crew’s nationalities differed among reports; some indicated five Azerbaijanis and four Uzbeks, while others suggested six Azerbaijanis and three Uzbeks. The captain had accumulated over 4,500 flight hours at the time of the crash. The flight crew included Uzbek captain Sergei Kuzmin, aged 42; Azerbaijani first officer Oleg Morshikhin, aged 32; Uzbek flight engineer Vladimir Shatobin, aged 52; and Uzbek navigator Igor Zheng, aged 44. Additional personnel on board comprised radio operators Elnur Mahmudov and Ahmedjian Khajayev, mechanics Afghan Rahimov and Mehman Huseynov, along with onboard operator Tapdig Gahramanov.
Aftermath
According to Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, the aircraft was downed by Taliban fighters who believed it was transporting arms, although local Afghan officials refuted any Taliban involvement.
While ISAF reported no Taliban presence in the vicinity at the time of the incident, multiple efforts to access the crash location were met with hostile gunfire. The Azerbaijani ambassador to Afghanistan and Pakistan dismissed claims of technical failure, asserting his belief that the Taliban were indeed responsible for the plane's destruction.
Following the accident, Silk Way Airlines suspended its flights to Afghanistan temporarily, later resuming operations on 21 July.
Investigation
The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority initiated an inquiry, collaborating with Azerbaijani officials and Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC).
On 25 July, the remains of the crew were transferred to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Health forensic and pathological anatomy department in Baku.
By 15 August, the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) had been dispatched to Moscow. Representatives from the IAC alongside delegates from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan successfully extracted the data. The CVR analysis revealed that at the moment of impact, the captain was piloting visually without guidance from Bagram air traffic control, which deviated from standard procedures.
Additionally, the investigative commission’s vice-president confirmed that the aircraft had strayed from its designated flight path.
See also
External links
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