Kyrgyz president may be in danger when flying abroad. Presidential airplanes recently became the topic for the press to seize upon and discuss in details.

Just recently the only carrier of Kurmanbek Bakiev collided on the ground with an American refueling plane on September 26. Shortly after the investigation of the incident was launched Kyrgyz officials announced that the American crew was to be blamed for the collision.

The plane TU 154 that was allegedly hit by the KS 135 was a multifunctional one. It was playing several roles, from time carrying passengers and serving the president of the country when there was a need for him to travel abroad with official visits. After the collision there were jokes that Kurmanbek Bakiev was left wingless. This fact was, probably, taken as a personal offence by the president. It became a matter of pride and it took only two months to deal with this “historical injustice” and to fix the problem. As well as to fix the plane. Even to replace it, to be precise.

Last week it was announced that the president of Kyrgyzstan finally got his own, brand…refurbished plane. This air “vehicle» reportedly was not in action for quite a number of years but than the decision was made to restore it. Daniyar Usenov, one of the vise prime ministers was the one to test the new presidential plane. On the ground. Usenov was designated to inspect the airplane before letting the president in. After checking the plane the vice-minister reported satisfactory conditions and emphasized that after the plane was repaired by the specialists in Russian town, Samara, it looked as if it was brand new. In short, the president of Kyrgyzstan seemingly got reasons to celebrate. After all, an own plane is something that any president theoretically deserves.

The only troubling thing was that shortly after the statement of the vice-minister was released the press release from Samara followed. The official statement of the specialized factory “Aviacor” that was allegedly involved into recovering the plane for the Kyrgyz president read:

“ This plane was released in 1983. Our specialists in Samara never participated in any repairing procedures of this jet. According to our information, the last time it was inspected was in 1996.”

After this statement was issued many started wondering what really had been happening to the new presidential jet before Kurmanbek Bakiev got a final report about its excellent conditions. No explanation has been given so far by those responsible for preparing the plane for its first take off with the president of Kyrgyzstan aboard.