IL-76 ST-JAN downed by RSF forces in Sudan
An IL-76 cargoplane was downed by a missile while flying in Sudan airspace in October 2024. Photos taken at the crashsite show the registration EX-76011 on a safetycard. However the actual registration of the aircraft was ST-JAN. The Ex-76011 registration caused media to believe this aircraft was hired by the United Arab Emirates to supply the RSF rebels with weapons and ammunition. The UAE was behind an airbridge between UAE and Chad using IL-76 aircraft chartered by New Way Cargo Airways.
Reuters has many details about the aircraft.
The location of the wreckage, the Sudanese registration and the airport the aircraft was parked at are strong indications this aircraft was operating for the Sudan Armed Forces.
The aircraft was deregistered from the Kyrgyz EX-register in early January 2024. The last track of EX-76011 was when it was flying on December 30, 2023 as NWY9001 from Aqaba in Jordan to Port Sudan in Sudan. This city has always been under control of the government.
According Kyrgyz authorities the aircraft was sold to an Egyptian company.
Since the aircraft landed at Port Sudan it could not be tracked using its hex id used as EX-76011. Someone on X wrote ST-JAN used hex id 07C08F and did not move from Port Sudan till March. The hex id was later assigned to a Badr Airlines Boeing 737 which was delivered in April. I was not able to verify the hex id nor able to find flights of ST-JAN.
So the aircraft was operating for the Sudan military, suppling weapons to the military in the neighborhood of the El Fashir airport. It could be the aircraft landed there or airdropped its load. The IL-76 has a loading deck which can be opened in flight to drop cargo. On the way back from El Fashir heading north to an unknown destination the aircraft was downed.
