At 10:30 all flags in MNC NE HQ were lowered at half-mast as sign of mourning. In that way the Headquarters passed the condolences to 10 Slovak soldiers serving in the MNC NE and paid a tribute to the 42 victims of the military plane catastrophe.
Slovak military aircraft AN–24 crashed into the mountain on the 19th of January in the East Hungary, 10 km from the Slovak border. The plane flew from the capital of Kosovo Pristina to Košice with the 43 soldiers on board. Forty-three people died and one survived. Among the 42 victims were – 27 Slovak soldiers, 7 persons of flight crew and 8 persons of methodical support.
The plane took off at 17.15 in Kosovo and was supposed to land at 19.40 in Košice. The crash took place in an uninhabited area, just 20 km from the Košice - in snowy, forested, mountains, 700 meters up. The conditions for the rescue operation were very difficult and helicopters could not land, hampering efforts to ascertain the cause of the crash.
