На русском языке:
В Судане уничтожен беларусский самолёт компании Belcanto Airlines
We are talking about the Il-76TD with reg. number EW-576TH of the Belarusian cargo airline Belcanto Airlines.
Satellite images by Maxar dated April 17, which were taken at Khartoum airport (the capital of Sudan), show that at least 7 planes were destroyed. According to Maxar data, a total of at least 14 planes were destroyed.
According to our data, one of them is a completely destroyed Belarusian plane, which arrived there back on April 13.
Its last flight is shown on the FlightRadar24 flight tracking service. On April 13 at 14:28 UTC (17:28 Minsk time), it left Amman, Jordan and headed for Khartoum airport (the capital of Sudan). However, we know that it arrived in Amman from Sudan. This indicates that the plane was in Sudan before April 13, or, more precisely, since at least March 22.
Flight of the plane EW-576TH on April 13 / FlightRadar24
What's going on in Sudan?
According to BBC, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting in Sudan for several days. At least since April 15, there has also been shelling of the airport in Khartoum. Avianews wrote that one of the planes of the Ukrainian airline SkyUp was damaged as a result of the shelling.
The New York Times later reported on April 17 that a Ukrainian plane had burned down, journalists identified at least 20 planes destroyed or badly damaged at the airport since the conflict began on Saturday. It was also noted that military planes continued to shell Khartoum’s main airport on Monday, as warring military groups are trying to gain control of critical infrastructure in the capital of Sudan.
What happened to the Belarusian plane?
As we wrote above, the plane of Belcanto Airlines arrived in Sudan on April 13. However, after that, one of the cargo airline’s employees Aleksandr Mashkalo reposted his post in social networks, where he said that since March 23 the airline has been offering its services with departures from Sudan. This means that the EW-576TH had been in Sudan since at least March 22, and it was flying to Amman and back from Sudan.
«Il76 AVAILABILITY! Belcanto Airlines IL76 (EW-576TH) available in Khartoum, Sudan. Our sales team will be glad to provide you with a prompt reply on your price quotation requests,» Mashkalo wrote.
A photo of EW-576TH before destruction. The place of shooting is unknown. / Aleksandr Mashkalo
Judging by photos taken by Planet Labs, as of April 16, the Belarusian plane was still intact, but on April 17 it was already destroyed.
Il-76TD plane (EW-576TH) on April 16 and 17 (bottom center) / BBC
In addition, Zerkalo writes that there were seven citizens of Belarus in the crew of the plane. They are reportedly safe and in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
