Armenian crew chief of Congo plane identified

December 1, 2012 - 15:12 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The pilot in command of the cargo plane that crashed in the Congolese capital Friday, Nov 30 evening, has been identified.

“This was Varazdat Balasanyan, a citizen of Armenia,” spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan told PanARMENIAN.Net

The names of the other crew members are being clarified.

Earlier, spokesperson for Armenia’s General Department of Civil Aviation, Ms. Nelly Cherchinyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that the crew consisted of 7 people, of whom 5 were Armenian citizens.

The plane has crashed at Brazzaville Airport as it was trying to land in a storm, killing the crew and around 30 residents, emergency services and witnesses say.

Locals were killed as the aircraft skidded off the runway and crashed into houses and a bar before crashing into a ravine, said Georgelin Massemba, head of the emergency services.

The Ilyushin plane, registered with local company Aero-services, was flying in from the western port city of Pointe Noire carrying cars and other goods.