VIDEO: Survivors of Crashed Russian Plane in Afghanistan Share Details

Survivors of the Russian Falcon 10 aircraft, which crashed in Afghanistan, have returned to Moscow and for the first time shared details about the aviation mishap with journalists. Earlier reports indicated that on January 21, the Falcon passenger plane crashed in the mountains of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. The aircraft was carrying four crew members and two passengers. It was conducting a charter flight from Gaya (India) to Tashkent, and then to Zhukovsky (Russia).

Nurse Igor Shichkin recounted that one of the passengers, Anna, was in a coma and connected to a ventilator. Her husband was with her. “When they realized something was wrong with the plane, the pilots decided to raise the aircraft's 'nose' to soften the impact. The patient died immediately; she had injuries incompatible with life. Her husband was found only in the morning,” he explained.

At the time of the crash, the man had ejected from the aircraft and ended up under the wing. The nurse also mentioned that in the morning they tried to descend to a village to call for help. “At first, we explained using gestures, then a man who spoke poor English came. He helped us connect with a satellite phone,” he said.

Pilot Arkadi Grachev also noted that due to the crew's adept actions, they managed to land the plane on the mountain peak. “I think there were some technical issues,” he stated. The survivors endured the cold for 1.5 days and had to burn items they had on hand to stay warm. They trekked through snow for about five hours until reaching a nearby village. Grachev mentioned that he initially did not understand why they were not being searched for sooner. It turned out that the rescue operations were conducted with incorrect coordinates.

Grachev also denied media reports claiming there was $1.2 million on board the aircraft. The surviving Russians decided to express their gratitude to the local people who helped them and gave them a small amount of money.