Russian emergency workers completed their search and cleanup operations at the site of a FlyDubai passenger plane crash, while scores of mourners gathered at the airport in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don to leave candles, toys and flowers.
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The airline said in an e-mailed statement that it is their priority to identify and contact the families of those lost in the tragic accident and provide immediate support to those affected.
All 62 people onboard died – including four children – when the plane plummeted in Rostov-on-Don in the early hours of Saturday.
Having already had an unsuccessful attempt to land gave the impression that nothing was technically wrong with FlyDubai’s Boeing 737-800 NG.
The pilots Aristos Sokratous and Alejando Alava, his Spanish co-pilot, had almost 6,000 hours of flying experience between them, however its thought pilot fatigue may have been a factor in the crash.
Flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith told a news conference in Dubai that the final compensation amount would be decided after the crash investigation had concluded.
Possible reasons as to what may have caused the FlyDubai pilots on flight FZ981 to lose control of the aircraft and hit the ground leaving no survivors are being investigated by the Russian Investigative Committee, Russia Today reported.
An official at the airport said that, given the magnitude of the accident and the fire there was no possibility of any of the passengers or crew members to come out alive from that wreck.
Accident investigators pledged to issue a preliminary report within a month to adhere to rules set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the air-safety arm of the United Nations.
The Russian Interstate Aviation Committee, leading the investigation, said it is working with specialists from the United Arab Emirates and France to extract memory units used to store data. She was out partying with friends the night before her flight and slept in the next day, missing her flight and thus escaping the plane crash.
Emergencies Ministry members work at the crash site of a Boeing 737-800 Flight FZ981 operated by Dubai-based budget carrier Flydubai, at the airport of Rostov-On-Don, Russia, March 20, 2016.
However, some Russian aviation experts claim the steep descent seemed to indicate that the crash was not caused by the strong wind.
Al-Ghaith said the plane was produced in 2011 and underwent a detailed maintenance inspection known as a C check in January. The passengers included 44 Russians 8 Ukrainians 2 Indians and 1 Uzbekistani.
FlyDubai flight agency has confirmed the news of the crash and mourned the demise of the people on board.
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An airline spokesperson said all arrangements are being made for the travel and will be organised on a case-to-case basis. As far as the airline knew “the airport was open and we were good to operate”, he said.
