Alwaght- A Dubai Boeing 738 plane has crashed in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don killing all 62 people on board.
Fly Dubai flight FZ981 was en route from Dubai and crashed during its second landing approach amid poor weather conditions.
Air-traffic control and local emergency services confirmed that the US manufactured Boeing 737-800 jet crashed near the runway during a second approach in conditions of poor visibility.
“According to preliminary data, the Boeing 738 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50-100 meters left of the runway,” the source said.
“The plane, according to preliminary data, crashed during the second approach,” the source told Interfax.
All crew and passengers on board the plane were killed in the crash, according to the regional Emergencies Ministry. According to preliminary reports there were 61 people on board, including six crew members.
“During the landing approach a Boeing-737 crashed. It had 55 passengers on board. All of them died,” a regional spokesman told TASS.
Initial reports suggested that all passengers on board were Russians; however the Emergencies Ministry later confirmed that 11 foreigners were on board the flight, including all the crew members.
Reports say the plane failed to land at the first approach and was forced to make a reentry. However, at this point the aircraft's tail allegedly hit the ground. The Boeing then crashed and caught fire.
Fly Dubai confirmed that they are aware of an “incident involving our flight FZ981 from Dubai to Rostov on Don.”
“We are investigating further details and will publish an update once more information is available,” the airline added.
The Emergencies Ministry has opened up a hotline while a team of psychologists has been sent to help the grieving relatives. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a probe into the incident with preliminary data indicating that the plane disintegrated and caught fire upon touching the ground. Reports indicated that the debris was spread across the area of several kilometers.
Most people on board the crashed passenger jet Boeing-737-800 were residents of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, there also were foreigners among them, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Southern Regional Center’s chief Igor Oder said Saturday.
An emergencies source told RIA Novosti that the plane’s crew included a Greek national, two Spanish nationals, as well as one national of Russia, one of Colombia, one of Kazakhstan and one of the Seychelles.
According to the source, the passengers included three Ukrainian nationals, an Indian national and an Uzbekistan national.
