Azerbaijan, Baku, July 21 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The Azerbaijan Silk Way Airlines continues to deliver goods to Afghanistan, excluding Kabul and Bagram airports, Deputy Director General of Azerbaijan Airlines Ilham Amirov said at a news conference in Baku today. He led an Azerbaijani commission investigating the causes of the Azerbaijani plane crashed in Afghanistan.
A cargo plane Il-76 of Silk Way Airlines crashed in Afghanistan on July 6 night. Work is underway to determine the causes of the plane crash and deliver the bodies of the crew to the country. So far, attempts to deliver the bodies of the crew failed because of the difficult situation in Afghanistan. Particularly, the helicopters, with which the commissioners are trying to approach the crash site, are fired from the ground. One of the priorities of the plane crash reasons is the possibility that the plane was shot down.
Five members of the nine-person crew on the Silk Way Company cargo aircraft were Azerbaijani citizens. The other victims were Uzbek citizens. All crew members of the cargo aircraft were killed.
Nine crew members and a total of 18 tons of cargo were onboard the plane which was en route from Baku to Bagram. The plane picked up its cargo at the Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport and took off at 21:26 (local time).
The plane was built in 2005 with a carrying capacity of 40 tons and passed a full inspection in February 2011. It passed the subsequent inspection in June 2011.
The Azerbaijani commission investigating the causes of the Azerbaijani plane crash in Afghanistan stated that among the primary explanations for the plane crash is that the "Taliban shot down it".
"The version that the Taliban shot down the Azerbaijani cargo plane in Afghanistan is one of the primary theories," Amirov earlier said at a news conference.
Azerbaijan has officially sent a second note to the Afghan Foreign Ministry for assistance in the delivery of the crew members' dead bodies.