Background

The airplane involved in the crash was an Antonov An-24V, the 50-seat version of the Antonov An-24, a twin turboprop transport aircraft. The aircraft was manufactured on 31 October 1969 in the Soviet Union with the serial number 97305605.

The airplane was carrying Slovak peacekeepers who had finished a six-month tour of duty in NATO’s KFOR mission in Kosovo. The airplane was flying from Pristina International Airport in Pristina, Serbia and Montenegro to Košice International Airport in Košice, Slovakia.

Crash

At around 19:38 CET (18:38 GMT), the aircraft disappeared from air traffic controllers’ radar screens. The aircraft crashed in snowy and forested terrain on Borsó Hill at an elevation of 700 meters (2,300 feet) near the Hungarian village of Hejce and the town of Telkibánya. The crash site is about 20 km (12 mi) from Košice and about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the Slovak border.

According to the Hungarian Disaster Management Agency, the plane hit the tops of trees before catching fire and crashing. Tibor Dobson, of the disaster prevention unit of Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, was quoted as saying that bodies and wreckage were scattered over a large area, and Hungarian police spokesman László Garamvölgyi was quoted as saying that it was −18°C (−0.4°F) at the crash site and that the fuselage was completely burnt out.

Emergency response

Emergency workers who arrived at the scene were tasked not only with looking for survivors, but also with putting out the fire at the crash site. Hungarian authorities reported that the heavily wooded and steep terrain, as well as the low temperatures, contributed to the destruction and hampered rescue efforts. It was also reported that helicopters were unable to land at the crash site. Access was also made difficult because the road leading to the site was covered in snow.

Michaela Farkasova, the wife of a passenger, reported that she received a cellular telephone call from her husband, Martin Farkaš. She said that she received the call around 19:30 EET (18:30 GMT). She is quoted as saying that her husband told her that his plane had crashed in a forest. Shortly before the line went dead, he asked her to alert rescue services and the police.

Sole survivor

The sole survivor of the crash was Slovak Army First Lieutenant Martin Farkaš. He suffered minor brain swelling and lung injuries after the crash before being transported to Košice to seek medical attention. He was put into a medically induced coma, but he was soon reported to be in a stable condition.

According to rescuers, his survival was pure luck as he was found in the aircraft’s lavatory, which received little damage.

Reactions and aftermath

United States Ambassador to Slovakia Rodolphe Vallee released a statement on 30 January expressing his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, to the Slovak Armed Forces, and to the Slovak Republic. Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement hours after the incident in which he expressed his condolences.

List of victims:

• plk. Martin Haber
• plk. Štefan Ivan
• pplk. Ľuboš Balucha
• pplk. Josef Bigas
• pplk. Igor Angelovič
• pplk. Ľuboš Belák
• pplk. Miroslav Novák
• pplk. Michal Štang
• mjr. Vladimír Sopúch
• mjr. Róbert Tulipán
• mjr. Ľuboš Martinček
• kpt. Igor Scigeľ
• kpt. Tomáš Žipaj
• kpt. Norbert Kumančík
• kpt. Marián Fábry
• kpt. Michal Agnet
• kpt. Róbert Soľava
• kpt. Dominik Ocelka
• npor. Ján Balog
• npor. Marián Illéš
• npor. Jana Peštová
• npor. Peter Orlovský
• npor. Adriana Joppová
• npor. Alexander Gaál
• npor. Ján Hejduk
• práp. Ondrej Keszi
• práp. Vlastimil Čepičan
• práp. Róbert Letko
• por. Ľudovít Orlický
• por. Dušan Paľuch
• nrtm. Karol Malatin
• nrtm. Daniel Gumenický
• rtm. Peter Krištan
• rtn. Marek Kičinko
• rtn. Peter Komora
• čat. Bronislava Gregorovičová
• voj. Tomáš Kardoš
• slob. Peter Cogan
• des. Juraj Žubor
• des. Pavol Čigáš
• des. Rastislav Novák
• Mgr. Peter Kotvan