ACT Airlines rejects Bishkek crash claims

By Nezir Aliyev and Cigdem Alyanak

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AA) – The company which owned a cargo plane that crashed in Kyrgyzstan earlier this week has denied claims the aircraft had tried to land several times or had run out of fuel.

In a statement, ACT Airlines praised the work of its pilots and said it was not the first time one of their planes had flown from Bishkek.

"ACT Airlines have conducted 52 flights until today to Bishkek Airport [with the] Boeing 747-400 type of aircraft," the statement read.

It also said the plane involved in Monday’s crash had enough fuel.

The ACT Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek crashed as it came in to land at 7.31 a.m. local time (0131GMT) on Monday.

Thirty-seven people, including Capt. Ibrahim Gurcan Diranci, co-pilot Kazim Ondul, loading expert Melih Aslan and Flight Technician Ihsan Koca died in the crash.

Kyrgyzstan’s transport minister on Wednesday confirmed an investigation at the crash site had begun.

Jamshitbek Kalilov told reporters the investigation commission included six experts who had started work in the Dacha-Suu neighborhood where the cargo plane came down.

Kalilov said the experts were divided into three groups. "The first group will work at the debris site. The second group will meet with representatives of Manas International Airport and the third group will work with air traffic control," he added.

He also said the experts would conduct an "impartial" investigation.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s ambassador in Bishkek visited the crash site on Wednesday and said Ankara was ready to offer any kind of support.

The Turkish Transport Ministry said on Monday two accident investigation experts had also been sent to Bishkek.