FlyDubai aircraft crashes in Russia killing 62 people

IN THE early hours of Saturday March 19, a Boeing 737-800 of FlyDubai airline came down 250 metres short of the runway at Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia, bursting into flames on impact and killing all 55 passengers and seven crew.

Although it is too early to confirm the cause of the crash, it appears that the weather was very bad with poor visibility and very high winds. Reports suggest that the pilot had aborted a first attempt to land and then circled for up to two hours before the second and fatal landing.

According to additional reports from various Russian sources, the bulk of the passengers were said to be Russian although there may have been three foreign passengers and six non-Russian crew members on board.

The airport was closed whilst rescue workers attempted to extinguish fires, search for bodies and discover the whereabouts of the flight recorders which would help in confirming the reason for the crash.

FlyDubai is a low cost airline operating out of the United Arab Emirates which was set up in 2009 and now flies to over 90 destinations.