Kabul, A chartered jet en route from India to Moscow, with a brief stop in Uzbekistan, vanished from radar while flying over Afghanistan, triggering an ongoing search operation, reported by Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsia.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Rosaviatsia reported on Sunday that the missing aircraft is a Dassault Falcon 10 jet, French-made and Russian-registered. Preliminary data indicated that there were six individuals on board, comprising four crew members and two passengers. The plane, manufactured in 1978, is owned by Athletic Group LLC and an unnamed private entity. Rosaviatsia is currently coordinating with aviation authorities in Afghanistan and Tajikistan to ascertain the jet’s whereabouts.
India’s civil aviation authority clarified that the aircraft was neither a scheduled commercial flight nor an Indian chartered plane, and stated that further details are yet to be confirmed.
In a separate development, police in northern Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, which borders China, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, have received reports of a plane crash. A provincial police spokesperson confirmed these reports. Zabihullah Amiri, head of the provincial information department, acknowledged to a foreign media outlet that the jet had crashed, but the specific location remains unknown. He noted that teams have been dispatched to the potential crash site but have not reached it yet. Amiri added that the crash was first reported by local residents in the morning.
Badakhshan province is known for the rugged terrain of the Hindu Kush mountain range, including Mount Noshaq, Afghanistan’s highest peak, standing at 7,492 meters (24,580 feet) tall.