Military Aircraft Crashed in Almaty

On March 13 at 5.20 p.m. an AN-26 aircraft crashed during the landing in Almaty airport. 

The aircraft of Kazakhstan’s Border Service with six people onboard has crashed in an accident while headed from Nur-Sultan to Almaty.   

The National Security Committee (KNB), which is an agency that supervises the Border Service, has confirmed that the plane was registered in the Aviation Service of KNB.

«The KNB Aviation Service AN-26 aircraft crashed while trying to land in Almaty Airport,» the KNB press service reported.

According to the Department of Emergencies, on March 13, 5:25 p.m. the Almaty airport dispatchers reported that the military aircraft AN-26, which was headed from Nur-Sultan to Almaty, fell off radars and the accident occurred.

«Four crew members died and two were injured. One of them, a 34-year-old border serviceman, has an open fracture of the leg and closed craniocerebral injury; the second surviving crew member, a 25-year-old man, also has a closed craniocerebral injury and burns. They both are staying in critical condition in hospital in Almaty,» the city’s health system officials said.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokaev has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and ordered an investigation into the causes of the accident. 

There are three main versions of the accident: weather element, technical fault, and human factor. The investigators are going to examine each of them and will announce the results later.