BISHKEK. Nov 14 (Interfax-AVN) - Kyrgyz Transport and Communications Minister Nurlan Sulaimanov has blamed the U.S. crew for the September 26 collision of a Tupolev Tu-154 airplane belonging to Kyrgyzstan Airlines and a U.S. Air Force KC-135 fuel tank at Bishkek's international airport.
"The task force set up to investigate the collision at Manas International Airport on September 26, 2006, has admitted that the incident was the fault of the U.S. airplane's crew," the local media quoted Sulaimanov as saying on Tuesday.
The commission has completed the probe and the conclusions drawn by it have been signed, the minister said.
The investigation concluded that the Kyrgyz pilots "are totally innocent. The whole fault lies with the U.S. pilots," he said.
"The Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan is engaged in talks on compensation for the damage," Sulaimanov said.
The right wing of the Tu-154 plane was partially destroyed in the collision. A fire that erupted after the incident damaged the U.S. tanker plane.