An Itek Air Boeing 737-200 bound for Iran from Bishkek crashed shortly after takeoff, according to CNN. Initial reports suggest that there may have been around 25 survivors out of the 90 or so passengers on the aircraft. This is not a part of the world many westerners visit, although there is a U.S. air base at the Bishkek airport. News on this disaster may take a while to reach our side of the globe...
It seems that Itek Air actually wet leases one of their 737-200 planes from Kyrgyzstan Airlines, although it is unclear as to whether this plane was lost in the crash. Even more interstingly, Wikipedia mentions that all airlines from Kyrgyzstan, including both Kyrgyzstan Airlines and Itek Air, are on the list of airlines banned from flying in the European Union due to a poor safety record. I guess if you ever have to go to Kyrgyzstan, you might want to consider taking Aeroflot, bmi, or Turkish Airlines instead.
In other news, another Spanair MD-82 had to make an emergency landing in Malaga, Spain after the pilot reported a technical problem. Fortunately, the plane landed safely without incident. Definitely not a good week for the Spanair folks.
Investigators are still sifting through the Spanair crash at Madrid-Barajas, but it will take a while before we learn the culprit of the crash. Speculation has been running rampant over on various aviation forums. Spain's civil aviation authority reports that the plane's engines were not on fire before the crash.
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