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Search continues for missing Afghan passenger jet

  • Published
  • By Capt. Robert Leese, USAF
  • NTM-A
KABUL, Afghanistan --  The Afghan National Army Air Corps launched two Mi-17 transport helicopters May 18 to search for the missing Pamir Airways AN-24 passenger jet that crashed in the Hindu Kush mountains north of Kabul.

It was a coordinated effort with Coalition partners as NATO and ANAAC helicopters searched the mountainous area north of the capital beginning at dawn. Aerial searches by the ANAAC and Coalition force were turned back due to extreme low visibility caused by rain and intense fog on Monday night.

The search area is rugged, snow covered mountainous terrain that is difficult to search, but rescue team members braved the elements and continued to search throughout the day.

Lt. Col. "Jeep" Willi, a Combined Airpower Transition Force (CAPTF) mentor and lead pilot of the mission explained, "It's a big challenge. It's a lot easier to find a moving target. But if something isn't moving, then it's very difficult to find, especially amongst terrain like we had today because one spot looks like another spot and you would think that finding an aircraft would be easy, but at the altitudes we're flying at and the terrain we're flying in, it's very challenging to find an aircraft in that in that terrain."

ANAAC and CAPTF members continued searching today and unfortunately, they did not find the missing aircraft. Tomorrow morning another flight crew will leave to continue the search and rescue mission.