QURGHON TEPPA, November 8, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- A year ago, Tajik authorities convicted two pilots working for Rolkan Investment Ltd and confiscated their two AN-72s.

The confiscated aircraft are still at the Qurghon Teppa airport.  Mirzomiddin Salomov, a lawyer for Qurghon Teppa International Airport, says that in accordance with an official letter received from the State Committee for investments and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest) on September 13, 2012 the aircraft will be temporarily deployed at the Qurghon Teppa airport until decision of their further destiny.

The Antonov An-72 is a Soviet transport aircraft, developed by Antonov.  It was designed as a STOL (short take-off and landing) transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commercial freighters.  The An-72 has remarkable STOL capabilities: takeoff roll is 620 meters and landing run is 420 meters.  Like many other Soviet-built aircraft, this aircraft was designed to operate on rugged airfields, its robust undercarriage and high-flotation tyres dealing well with sand, grass or other unpaved surfaces.  The rear fuselage of the aircraft has a hinged loading ramp with a rear fairing that slides backwards and up to clear the opening. Up to 7.5 tons can be airdropped whilst there are folding side seats for 52 passengers.

We will recall that Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy (Russian national) and Captain Aleksey Rudenko (citizen of Estonia), who were sentenced by the Qurghon Teppa city court to 8 ½ years in prison each on charges of smuggling, illegal border crossing and violation of aviation regulations, have been released by an appeal court ruling.

In a ruling handed down at the Khatlon regional court on November 22, the sentences, in accordance with a recent Tajik amnesty, were reduced to two years, six months and ten days.  With the subtraction of two years under the amnesty, and six months for time served, the immediate release of the pilots was secured and Sadovnichiy and Rudenko were released in the courtroom.

The Qurghon Teppa city court sentenced Captain Vladimir Sadovnichiy and Captain Aleksey Rudenko working for Rolkan Investment Ltd, a private company domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, to 8 1/2 years in prison each on November 8, 2011.  The sentence followed their conviction on charges of smuggling, illegally crossing the border, and violating international aviation regulations.

The pilots were arrested on March 12, 2011 when the An-72 cargo planes they were piloting landed at the Qurghon Teppa airport for unscheduled refueling en route to Russia from Afghanistan.  The cargo of one of the planes included a disassembled aircraft engine that was not listed on the customs declaration.  Both of the planes, owned by Rolkan Investment Ltd, were confiscated by Tajik authorities.

On November 14, 2011, Tajikistan''s Prosecutor General Sherkhon Salimzoda produced a written request from Afghanistan''s Transport Ministry to detain the two planes because they left Afghanistan illegally and did not have proper documents.

According to him, the two pilots ignored warnings from Tajikistan''s air traffic controllers and entered Tajik airspace illegally.  Salimzoda said Sadovnichiy asked Tajik air traffic controllers seven times for permission to enter Tajikistan''s airspace and was refused every time.  He said Sadovnichiy then asked for permission for an emergency landing, even at the risk the planes would be impounded.

Salimzoda said that before the two planes took off, Afghan government officials informed Tajikistan that they had false registration numbers and were not registered in any country.  They also did not have log books or air safety certificates.

Tajik chief prosecutor said the investigation established that the two aircraft were removed in 2008 from the list of aircraft registered in Georgia and since then have been based in Afghanistan.  He said that according to Afghan aviation authorities, the planes have not been inspected for the past three years and are no longer licensed to fly.