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YA-FAZ, the accident aircraft
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Occurrence | |
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Date | 19 March 1998 |
Summary | Controlled flight into terrain of undetermined cause |
Site | Sharki Baratayi Mountain 34°25′36″N 69°12′49″E / 34.42667°N 69.21361°E / 34.42667; 69.21361 |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 727-228 |
Operator | Ariana Afghan Airlines |
Registration | YA-FAZ |
Flight origin | Sharjah International Airport, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates |
Stopover | Kandahar Airport, Kandahar, Afghanistan |
Destination | Kabul International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan |
Occupants | 45 |
Passengers | 35 |
Crew | 10 |
Fatalities | 45 |
Survivors | 0 |
On 19 March 1998, a Boeing 727 passenger jet operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines crashed on approach into Kabul, Afghanistan, killing all 45 people aboard. The flight may have been involved in smuggling and Islamic militant operations, as Ariana was at that time controlled by the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regime.
The flight departed the city of Sharjah in the United Arab EmiratestoKabul on an unscheduled flight with a stop in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While descending for Kabul International Airport, the flight struck the Sharki Baratayi Mountain at an altitude of 2,600 m (8,500 ft) at 13:00 local time. The crash killed all 10 crew members and 35 passengers. The weather at the time of the accident was poor with snow and rain as well as poor visibility.[1][2][3]
The flight was operated by a Boeing 727-228, registered YA-FAZ. The aircraft first flew on 22 January 1981, meaning at the time of the accident, it was 17.2 years old.[4]
During rescue operations, Taliban regime members and Ariana officials reportedly carried 32 body bags and another 15 bags with body parts recovered from the mountain. Rescue work was delayed by bad weather and from the aircraft's wreckage being on fire until 03:00 (local time) of the next day. The rescue attempt was made difficult by landmines planted in the area during the Soviet-Afghan War. An Ariana official said on 20 March that the plane was carrying 32 passengers and 13 crew members.[5]
Even if the aircraft's black boxes were reportedly searched for, there is no trace of either a report or an investigation to either determine the causes of the accident or the fate of the black boxes (possibly a consequence of the Taliban regime's international isolation). The director-general of Ariana Afghan Airlines, Hassan Jan, said that the crash was a consequence of bad weather.[5]
The crash was one of several incidents that led to Ariana Airlines being prohibited from EU airspace.[6]
According to a November 2001 Los Angeles Times story, this flight may have been one of several involved in a series of smuggling runs carrying arms, money, drugs and Islamist militants between Sharjah, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Passengers on these flights reportedly included militants from both the al-Qaeda and Taliban movements, the latter of which ruled most of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, while also harboring Osama bin Laden. Being the regime that controlled most of Ariana's fleet and assets, as well as the airports in Kandahar and Kabul, the Taliban facilitated the flights, helping to provide fake crew and employee IDs to the militants. According to the LA Times report, the pilots of this particular flight may have been Taliban themselves. The story reports on an August 1996 incident, in which Ahmad Shah Massoud's militia stopped an Ariana 727 that was about to depart from Jalalabad Airport full of opium hidden in a fake timber cargo. US intelligence officials were reportedly aware of these flights and the use that the Taliban regime was giving to Ariana Afghan.[7]
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1998 (1998)
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Feb 2 Feb 3 Feb 12 Feb 16 Mar 18 Mar 19 Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crash Mar 22 Philippine Airlines Flight 137 Apr 20 May 5 Occidental Petroleum Boeing 737 crash May 25 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 544 May 26 Jun 18 Jun 28 Jul 30 Jul 30 Aug 5 Aug 24 Aug 29 Sep 2 Sep 25 Sep 29 Oct 10 Lignes Aériennes Congolaises Boeing 727 crash Dec 11 Thai Airways International Flight 261 | |
Aviation accidents and incidents in Afghanistan
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See also: List of aviation accidents and incidents in the war in Afghanistan, List of Soviet aircraft losses during the Soviet–Afghan War |