50 people die in Russian plane crash today

50 people die in Russian plane crash
today
A passenger plane crashed at an airport in the
Russian city of Kazan today, killing all 50 people on
board, reports say.
The Boeing 737 had taken off from Moscow
and was trying to land but exploded on
impact at about 19:20 local time (15:20
GMT), officials said.
The Emergencies Ministry said there were
44 passengers and six crew members on the
Tatarstan Airlines flight.
Investigators are now looking at whether a
technical failure or crew error may have
caused the crash. Among the dead was Irek
Minnikhanov, a son of the president of the
Russian Republic of Tatarstan, according to
the official passenger list.
Aleksander Antonov, who headed Tatarstan's
branch of the Federal Security Service, was also
among the passengers. The victims also included
two children.
Reports said the pilot had already tried to land
several times before crashing. The crew had said
they were not ready to land because of technical
problems, Russian news agencies report.
A journalist who said she had flown on the same
aircraft from Kazan to Moscow earlier on Sunday
told Russia's Channel TV that there was a strong
vibration during the landing in the Russian capital.
"When we were landing it was not clear whether
there was a strong wind, although in Moscow the
weather was fine, or some kind of technical
trouble or problem with the flight," said Lenara
Kashafutdinova.
"We were blown in different directions, the plane
was tossed around. The man sitting next to me
was white as a sheet."
The airport in Kazan - the capital of Tatarstan -
has been closed since the accident and is
expected to re-open on Monday morning.
Kazan lies about 720km (450 miles) east of
Moscow.
Although some of Russia's biggest airlines now
have very good reputations, frequent crashes by
smaller operators mean the country has one of the
worst air safety records in the world.
Source - BBC