It’s On the Kyrgyz Controller, Mostly

Dec. 21, 2006

US Air Force officials investigating the Sept. 26 accident at Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan involving a Kyrgyz airliner and a USAF KC-135 found the accident to be primarily the fault of a Kyrgyz air traffic controller. An earlier announcement by Kyrgyz officials put the blame squarely on the USAF aircrew. The USAF accident board acknowledged that the KC-135 aircrew shared some responsibility. The board also faulted a tower liaison employed by the US to ease communication.

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