The Russian air traffic control agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced on Sunday that a small chartered plane en route to Moscow from India via Uzbekistan disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan on Saturday evening, and a search operation is underway to locate it.
The aircraft, a French-made Dassault Falcon 10, is registered in Russia and was carrying six people, including four crew members and two passengers, according to preliminary data.
A Russian statement indicated that the plane was manufactured in 1978 and is owned by Athletic Group LLC and an undisclosed individual. It added that Rosaviatsiya is in contact with the aviation authorities in Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Zabihullah Amiri, a spokesperson for the Badakhshan provincial government, told Reuters that a team has been dispatched to the crash site, but he noted that it is a remote area over 200 kilometers from Fayzabad, the provincial capital, and the team would take 12 hours to reach the location.
The spokesperson for Badakhshan police stated that the crash occurred overnight in a remote mountainous area of the province located in the far north of Afghanistan. He added that there were no confirmed details regarding the type of aircraft, the cause of the crash, or potential casualties.
The Indian Civil Aviation Authority denied that the aircraft crash involved a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered plane, stating that they are "awaiting more details." A Badakhshan police spokesman also reported that police received notifications about a plane crash in the area, reiterating that no confirmed details are available concerning the type of aircraft, the cause of the crash, or human losses.
