Recent Events
On February 11, 2009, the commanding officer of the Air Force, General Lieutenant Rail Rzayev was assassinated outside his home. Rzayev had been reportedly negotiating closer ties with the United States regarding air force modernisation before his death, possibly including the acquisition of US fighter aircraft. The post was vacant until another officer, Mehtiev, was appointed in December 2009.
On March 3, 2010, an Azerbaijani Air Force Su-25 crashed in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan killing the pilot, Famil Mammadli. An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the crash.
On February 3, 2011, an Azerbaijani Air and Air Defence Force Su-25UB crashed in the Kurdamir region of Azerbaijan. Both crew members were not injured.
Read more about this topic: Azerbaijani Air Forces
Famous quotes containing the word events:
“One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1948)
“Man is a stream whose source is hidden. Our being is descending into us from we know not whence. The most exact calculator has no prescience that somewhat incalculable may not balk the very next moment. I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)