Russian Corporate Jet Crashes in Afghanistan: 7 Onboard

A Russian Falcon 10 corporate jet, en route from Gaya, India, to Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport, crashed in the mountainous Badakhshan Province of northeast Afghanistan on Sunday morning. The confirmation came from Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsia.

According to Zabihullah Amiri, the head of the local Information and Culture Department, a search team has been dispatched to the crash site. Rosaviatsia’s data indicates that the aircraft, belonging to a Russian company, had four crew members and two passengers on board.

The passengers were reportedly a Russian woman and her husband, undergoing medical evacuation from Pattaya, Thailand. The Taliban government’s spokesman, Abdul Wahid Rayan, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the crash resulted from an engine problem and claimed the aircraft belonged to a Moroccan firm, with “seven Russians abroad.”

Contrary to initial media reports, the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry clarified on Twitter that the crashed plane did not belong to an Indian carrier. The statement emphasized that the Falcon 10 was neither a scheduled nor a charter aircraft, dispelling any confusion surrounding its origin.

The Falcon 10, a vintage business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation, has been in service between 1971 and 1989, retaining popularity in the secondary market.