Boeing crashes in Kazan, 50 dead

The plane crashed at 7.25 p.m.  Moscow Time (6.25 p.m. FET) while landing. The Boeing lost height, collided with the ground and its fuel tanks exploded. The fire has already been extinguished.

There were 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. All of them died. There were no children among them. The plane belonged to the airline Tatarstan, ITAR-TASS reports referring to the Russian Aviation.

A commission has been crated in the Russian Ministry of Transport to liquidate the outcome of the catastrophe. The Russian Investigation Committee is checking the crash now. A criminal case for violation of flight safety rules has been started.

“All versions including a pilot’s mistake, technical failure and weather conditions will be checked,” representative of the Investigation Committee Vladimir Markin said. There are three main versions of the crash now: a technical failure, a pilot’s mistake and bad weather.

The weather could not hinder the landing of the Boeing 737-500 in Kazan, RIA Novosti reports. “The weather was normal for such planes,” a representative of the Russian hydrometeorological office told the agency.

Photo: ria.ru.