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Osh Plane Crash Kyrgyzstan: All Passengers Survive (Pictures)

Huffington Post UK     First Posted: 29/12/11 15:54 GMT   Updated: 30/12/11 16:25 GMT

The story behind these dramatic pictures of an upturned aeroplane that crash-landed in Osh, Kyrgyzstan is less tragic that it first appears.

All of the plane’s 80 passengers and six crew members survived, although 17 people are being treated for injuries in hospital.

When the Soviet built aeroplane landed in the city of Osh, in Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, heavy fog shrouded the airport.

The Kyrgyzstan Airlines Tu-134 aircraft skidded off the runway and lost its balance, forcing it to flip over. A wing smashed into the icy tarmac and a fire broke out.

The aeroplane was on its way back from the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek.

A airport spokesman told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti:

"The landing was performed in thick fog. The plane skidded off the runway and turned to the left side. Its wing was smashed off. A loud explosion was heard"

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Rescuers work near an overturned Russian-made Tupolev 134 passenger jet at the airfield outside Osh on December 28, 2011. The packed TU-134 flipped over and caught fire on landing in the southern Kyrgyz city today injuring at least six people, officials and witnesses said.
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The story behind these dramatic pictures of an upturned aeroplane that crash-landed in Osh, Kyrgyzstan is less tragic that it first appears. All of the plane’s 80 passengers and six crew members...
The story behind these dramatic pictures of an upturned aeroplane that crash-landed in Osh, Kyrgyzstan is less tragic that it first appears. All of the plane’s 80 passengers and six crew members...
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baliw280
0 Fans
01:46 PM on 01/02/2012
That particular aircraft had Kyrgyzstan on one side in Roman characters, and Кыргызстан on the other side, in Cyrillic (which they still use for their own script).
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Johnowen
78 Fans
01:24 AM on 12/30/2011
What no comments by British4Ever? It involves foreigners, perhaps they were heading for Engerland.
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TomMartin
Freedom and equality.
337 Fans
01:04 AM on 12/30/2011
Interesting that the word Kyrgyzstan is written on the plane in the Roman alphabet. I wonder if they switched the script from the cyrillic alphabet to roman, or if this is written in roman for the convenience of foreigners.
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novelist2000
veritas non olet
195 Fans
05:10 AM on 12/30/2011
Russian is not their native tongue, that would be Kyrgyz and that might well be written in some script that looks more decorative than legible to us. I know that Georgians and Armenians have their own alphabets but assume their planes are painted with Roman characters. The Russian Antonov definitely has Roman characters.

These countries seem to use Russian instead of their own languages when it comes to communication with outsiders, but planes may not get an international licence without Roman characters. Have you seen writing from India? Imagine, they'd all put their traditional languages on planes - we could not distinguish between Japanese and Chinese planes.
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TomMartin
Freedom and equality.
337 Fans
05:37 AM on 12/30/2011
I know most Kyrgyz are not Russian, but Kyrgyz, which is a Turkic language. The Soviets first replaced their Arabic alphabet with the Roman alphabet, then changed their mind and forced them to adopt the Cyrillic alphabet. You are right about the Georgians and Armenians, thankfully they were not forced to switch, maybe because Stalin was Georgian. I know that the Azeris, the Turkmens and the Uzbeks changed back to the Roman alphabet, but I haven't heard that about the Kyrgyz. So I guess you are right, it is some international convention. I haven't seen the writing on Russian planes, so thanks for that info. I seem to remember that the Israeli airline has El Al written on the planes both in Roman script and the Hebrew.
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Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
08:57 PM on 12/29/2011
86 people on board, only 17 injured. Who cares if it was a miracle or not? Fate, Kismet, divine intervention or LUCK!
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shn525
10 Fans
09:32 PM on 12/29/2011
The people who investigate these to make sure they don't happen again with deaths OR injuries care. And I'm glad they do.
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Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
09:46 PM on 12/29/2011
Me too. I just fail to care for the professioanl and amateur speculation in the earlier posts. I just feel that until the investigations are conlusive that luck in these situations is a deciding factor!
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BeeJayCeee
I still loathe Thatcher
144 Fans
06:09 AM on 12/30/2011
So those who were injured weren't in receipt of a "miracle" and those who weren't were? What did those who weren't do not to receive such a wonderful gift, and do wrong to deserve injury, pain and emotional trauma?

Every time a religionists howls "miracle", the question must be asked why did they survive, why did they escape without injury, and why did the 5 year-old kid die in a house fire?

Magic doesn't happen, fact.
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Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
03:10 PM on 12/30/2011
I think you missed my point. The comment was meant to reflect exactly what you have said. Some people were lucky. In fact to survive the crash they were all lucky.
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Jose 58
130 Fans
06:35 PM on 12/29/2011
Talk about being on a wing and a prayer.
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jenny taylia
59 Fans
06:22 PM on 12/29/2011
.......and after a few rolls of duct tape and some pop rivets the russians had it back up and flying again the next day.
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ronnieince
57 Fans
07:17 PM on 12/29/2011
Did they sell it to Ryanair !!!!!
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BeeJayCeee
I still loathe Thatcher
144 Fans
05:28 PM on 12/29/2011
Could you please point to where the "miracle" happened? Thanks.
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ibrown9876
1 Fans
06:04 PM on 12/29/2011
Forgive my poor understanding of the English language I have only spoken it for fifty six years but after reading the article a number of times I still fail to spot the word "miracle" used in the article - what's your point?
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BeeJayCeee
I still loathe Thatcher
144 Fans
06:41 PM on 12/29/2011
The headline on the front page reads: "PICTURES: Passengers Saved By A Miracle As Plane Flips Over".

Open your eyes, you pompous, patronising fool.
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shn525
10 Fans
09:37 PM on 12/29/2011
The sub-editors wrote the headline to lure more people to the story. The headlines or subheads often include angles not actually present in the article in order to attract the largest number of thru-clicks generating more ad revenue. That's how this works. Perhaps 56 years is not enough time to figure that out or the fact that the person above is using an avatar indicating a world view that takes active offense to the abdicating of phenomena to unproven supernatural forces.
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Victor Saymong
Canuck up Toronto way
281 Fans
04:56 PM on 12/29/2011
Any landing you can walk away from....
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Reality always bites
Sometimes just a bit peckish
234 Fans
08:54 PM on 12/29/2011
Yeah and that was written by a WW11 pilot!
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Sunwyn Ravenwood
Farewell
1148 Fans
10:25 AM on 12/30/2011
Well, this was a good landing but not a great landing. To be a great landing you have to be able to reuse the plane.
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indlovubill
31 Fans
04:09 PM on 12/29/2011
Amazing result, no lives lost thanks to the fire and rescue services.
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