Rescue teams in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province have found four survivors from a private jet crash in a remote and mountainous area, Russian and Taliban officials confirmed on Sunday. The Dassault Falcon 10, a French-made business jet, was carrying out a medical evacuation from Thailand to Russia when it vanished from radar screens on Saturday.
The aircraft, which was traveling from Utapao airport near Pattaya to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan, was reported to have six individuals on board: two passengers and four crew members. According to Russia’s federal air transport agency, as cited by the Russian embassy in Afghanistan, “Of the six people onboard the aircraft, tentatively, four are alive.” It also stated, “They have various injuries. The fate of two people is being clarified.”
Rescuers reached the crash site, located about 150 miles northeast of Kabul, and discovered the aircraft and four survivors in the Kuf Ab district of Badakhshan, near the Aruz Koh mountain. The Taliban’s transportation and civil aviation ministry and the group’s top spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, indicated that efforts were ongoing to assist the remaining individuals. “The investigative team of the Islamic Emirate continues their efforts to search for and provide assistance to the remaining individuals,” Mujahid said in a statement.
The Russian aviation authorities identified the plane as a Russian-registered, French-made Dassault Aviation Falcon 10, dating back to 1978. The plane was reportedly carrying a Russian woman “in a serious condition” from a hospital in Pattaya to Russia, accompanied by her husband, who paid for the flight. Both passengers were Russian nationals, coming from Volgodonsk in southern Russia.
Concerns arose when the pilot reported that the twin-engine jet was running low on fuel and would attempt an emergency landing at an airport in Tajikistan. Shortly after reporting an engine failure, contact was lost, and the aircraft disappeared from radar screens.
The Afghan aviation ministry, currently run by the Taliban, has begun investigating the incident. They stated that the plane’s deviation from its planned route, which did not include passing through Afghan airspace, was “probably due to technical issues”. Tracking data showed the last known position of the aircraft just south of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Russia’s investigative committee has opened a criminal case to determine whether there were violations of safety rules. Meanwhile, the plane’s reported owner, Athletic Group LLC, has not yet responded to requests for comment.
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