ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Plagued by debt, safety concerns and aging planes, Kazakhstan Airlines had a host of serious problems -- but no fatal crashes until Tuesday's horrific collision over India.
The airline was an offshoot of the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and its state-run airline Aeroflot. And like virtually all the "baby Flots," Kazakhstan Airlines has struggled with difficulties it inherited.
It had debt of around $140 million and has been on the brink of bankruptcy since early this year. It was denied access to airports in Germany, Israel and Greece because it couldn't afford to insure its planes.
The government intervened in April, handing over management of the airline to Kazkommertsbank, which appointed a new president and renamed the carrier, previously called Aue Zholy.
But by most accounts, conditions didn't improve. Long delays and canceled flights were common; maintenance was considered poor. Twice, flight personnel wrote open letters to the president about the airline's woes.
In May, six Kazakh air carriers -- but not Kazakhstan Airlines -- were grounded due to overloading, overworked staff and other serious safety violations. There were also problems with the airport in Almaty, the Kazakh capital, which was part of the airline.
International carriers complained about poorly trained ground crews, useless weather reports and bad fuel. The airport was split off from the airline and is now managed by Lufthansa, the German airline.
Despite the problems, Kazakhstan Airlines had no fatal crashes until its chartered IL-76 collided with a Saudi Airlines jumbo jet at 4,500 meters Tuesday on approach to the airport in New Delhi, India. Officials said 351 people were killed in the third-worst disaster in aviation history.
Speculation on the cause ranged from inadequate radar in the tower at Indira Gandhi International Airport to a misunderstanding by one of the pilots because of language problems.
The Indian Express newspaper Wednesday quoted aviation officials as saying there recently had been 10 near-misses in India's skies, most involving airlines from former Soviet republics. Many of the problems were blamed on the pilots' poor English, the newspaper said.
Viktor Nyevsky, the deputy general manager of Kazakhstan Airlines, denied that language was a problem for the pilots.
"All our pilots learn how to communicate in English," he said. "We shouldn't speculate on the causes of the crash."
The flight was chartered by a tourist company in Kyrgyzstan for "shuttle traders" -- people from the former Soviet republics who buy cheap goods abroad for resale at home.
Before the Soviet Union imploded, Aeroflot was the largest airline in the world, with some 4,000 planes, more than 100 million passengers annually and a safety record in line with the international average.
It since has split into some 400 companies, most of them with little money and few planes of their own. On many of the airlines, planes are frequently overloaded to make extra money.
The airline was an offshoot of the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and its state-run airline Aeroflot. And like virtually all the "baby Flots," Kazakhstan Airlines has struggled with difficulties it inherited.
It had debt of around $140 million and has been on the brink of bankruptcy since early this year. It was denied access to airports in Germany, Israel and Greece because it couldn't afford to insure its planes.
The government intervened in April, handing over management of the airline to Kazkommertsbank, which appointed a new president and renamed the carrier, previously called Aue Zholy.
But by most accounts, conditions didn't improve. Long delays and canceled flights were common; maintenance was considered poor. Twice, flight personnel wrote open letters to the president about the airline's woes.
In May, six Kazakh air carriers -- but not Kazakhstan Airlines -- were grounded due to overloading, overworked staff and other serious safety violations. There were also problems with the airport in Almaty, the Kazakh capital, which was part of the airline.
International carriers complained about poorly trained ground crews, useless weather reports and bad fuel. The airport was split off from the airline and is now managed by Lufthansa, the German airline.
Despite the problems, Kazakhstan Airlines had no fatal crashes until its chartered IL-76 collided with a Saudi Airlines jumbo jet at 4,500 meters Tuesday on approach to the airport in New Delhi, India. Officials said 351 people were killed in the third-worst disaster in aviation history.
Speculation on the cause ranged from inadequate radar in the tower at Indira Gandhi International Airport to a misunderstanding by one of the pilots because of language problems.
The Indian Express newspaper Wednesday quoted aviation officials as saying there recently had been 10 near-misses in India's skies, most involving airlines from former Soviet republics. Many of the problems were blamed on the pilots' poor English, the newspaper said.
Viktor Nyevsky, the deputy general manager of Kazakhstan Airlines, denied that language was a problem for the pilots.
"All our pilots learn how to communicate in English," he said. "We shouldn't speculate on the causes of the crash."
The flight was chartered by a tourist company in Kyrgyzstan for "shuttle traders" -- people from the former Soviet republics who buy cheap goods abroad for resale at home.
Before the Soviet Union imploded, Aeroflot was the largest airline in the world, with some 4,000 planes, more than 100 million passengers annually and a safety record in line with the international average.
It since has split into some 400 companies, most of them with little money and few planes of their own. On many of the airlines, planes are frequently overloaded to make extra money.