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Russia: 50 people killed in Tatarstan Airlines crash
November 17, 2013, 10:18 pm

Scene of the Tatarstan Boeing 737 crash [AP]

Scene of the Tatarstan Boeing 737 crash [AP]

Fifty people were killed when a Being 737 bound from Moscow east to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, crashed on landing Sunday afternoon, the Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya reported.

There were no survivors among the 44 passengers and six crew members aboard the Tatarstan Airlines flight.

The agency said the pilot was attempting a second landing approach when the airplane appeared to lose altitude and crashed.

The Federal Air Transport Agency said that Kazan airport had been closed and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for a commission to be formed to investigate the fatal crash.

Tatarstan Republic’s Deputy Prime Minister Yury Kamaltynov said at the scene that Irek Minnikhanov, son of Tatarstan’s President Rustam Minnikhanov, and Alexander Antonov, the republic’s security service chief, were among those killed in the crash.

Authorities in Tatarstan have said Monday will be a day of mourning.

Updated: The main federal investigations authority – known as the Investigative Committee – said it was examining whether there had been a “violation of aviation security rules” and added that it had dispatched its inspectors to the crash site.

Committee spokesperson Vladimir Markin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the authority was investigating three likely causes: Pilot error, weather conditions and technical failure.

Source: Agencies