Kyrgyzstan blames US for plane incident

BISHKEK, Nov 14 (Reuters) Kyrgyzstan, home to a US military airbase, today blamed the United States for violating flight security in a September incident when a Kyrgyz aircraft hit a US military plane.

Erkin Isakov, a deputy transport minister, said a government commission had concluded it was the US KC-135's fault when the Kyrgyzstan Airlines, Russian-made TU-154 aircraft smashed into it on take off on September 26.

''The government commission concluded there was no fault on our side, which means the American side had severely violated flight security,'' he told Reuters without specifying how exactly the US plane may have violated flight security.

The US airbase in Kyrgyzstan, used for operations in Afghanistan, declined to comment on the commission's findings.

The airbase is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

During the incident, the Kyrgyz plane with 61 people on board hit the US plane and then took off briefly before returning to land at Manas airport, Kyrgyz officials said at the time.

The U.S. plane had been trying to turn off the runway when the collision took place. Its wing caught fire but firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Earlier this year, the United States and Kyrgyzstan agreed on terms to carry on using the airbase after months of tense talks.

REUTERS MS HS1840