Crash of Tatarstan Airlines flight puts Russian civil aviation under spotlight
Disaster involving 23-year-old plane is latest to hit poorly regulated airlines
Russia yesterday sought reasons for its latest deadly plane crash, which has raised alarm about the safety of its civil aviation.
Investigators are focusing on a fault with the 23-year-old plane or pilot error as the probable cause for the disaster which killed 50 people.
The Tatarstan Airlines Boeing 737-500 crashed on landing at the airport in the Volga city of Kazan after a flight from Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Sunday night, killing all 44 passengers and six crew on board, the emergencies ministry said.
He confirmed that the crash occurred while the aircraft was making a second attempt at landing and said the investigation would have to consider why the pilot had not managed to land the first time in reasonable weather conditions.
The disaster claimed the lives of the son of the leader of the Tatarstan region, Irek Minnikhanov, and the head of Russia's FSB security service in Tatarstan, Alexander Antonov.
Among the dead was a Briton, Donna Carolina Bull, 53, and a Ukrainian national, the emergencies ministry said. The rest of the victims are all believed to be Russian citizens.