22:18, 1 December 2012

Five Armenian pilots perish in crash of cargo aircraft in Congo

Five out of seven members of the crew of the IL-76 cargo aircraft that on November 30, crashed in Congo, were citizens of Armenia.

Name of the captain of the crew was Varazdat Balasanyan, born in 1949, and he was a native of the village of Karin of Nagorno-Karabakh. Besides the captain, the crew included Edgar Avetyan, Ara Tovmasyan, Andranik Gevorgyan, and Tadevos Ovanesyan. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Tigran Balayan, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Directorate of Civil Aviation that all the pilots were flying under the contract, which they signed with the ''Aero-Service'' Airline of Congo.

The aircraft was carrying vehicles from Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, to the city of Pointe Noire.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent