According to MSN news, 65 people died today when a plane crashed near the Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan. It was very scary to hear about this news since there was already rumors about the safety of different airlines that come in and out of K-Stan. Stories heard from fellow students in Bishkek about the creepy plane they rode back from Osh, or when others coined it “Tragic Air” instead of “Tajik Air”, definitely leave a feeling of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. At least you’ll be happy to know I’m flying back to Kazakhstan on KLM, which is a pretty reputable European based airline.
You can read more about the tragedy at this link.
I have heard a few mentions of this in the American media yesterday (CNN and a blurb in the paper). I flew Uzbek Air twice and it seemed okay. The Bishkek airport was like a US Airforce base though. I also flew Tajik Air which was the smoothest flight I’ve ever had (Dushanbe to Khorog) but it was also scary weaving through the mountaintops with no computer instruments.
I love all your post about Kyrgyzstan, it reminds me of my time there, and Im sure you know how special that is. I went there with a friend for 2 months and we spent so much time walking the entire city every day that we knew the city more than any local we met. One of the people we made friends with was the translator for the airport control tower. The night that the accident happened he was speaking to that airplane as they tried to make an emergency landing. He said it was the most horrible thing he had ever heard and seen. I used to work at the airport and I can tell you the planes were not good, and the repair guys would be drinking since it was so cold. http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs200.snc1/6774_1144677029644_1609067582_357786_5256494_n.jpg
Thats an example of what you would see, although they were not in service. I have more stories from my time there than all the rest of my life combined, its really too bad about Bakiyev and all that, hopefully things get fixed there.