Russian Plane Crash Video Shows Monstrous Fireball, 50 Dead (WATCH)
A Russian plane crash killed 50 people Sunday after the Boeing 737-500 lost altitude, went nearly vertical, struck the tarmac and then exploded at Kazan international airport, Tatarstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations said. Authorities have not yet discovered the cause behind the crash, though they have theories it could be a mechanical or pilot error.
The Russian plane crashed occurred at around 7:20 p.m. local time at the end of a flight from Domodedovo airport to Kazan international airport in Kazan, Volga, killing all 44 passengers and six crew members. Unreleased video showed the plane nearly going vertical after failing to land the first time, with its fuel tank exploding on impact.
"The plane simply fell," Transport Minister Maxim Solokov told AFP. "It went vertically into the ground. After the plane hit the ground there was an explosion."
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The pilot reportedly told an air traffic controller that the plane could not land properly before the crash. The airplane lost speed on the second attempt at landing despite high winds but otherwise decent weather.
"The main versions of what happened are an error in piloting and technical factors, including a technical failure," Alexander Poltinin, head of the Transport Investigative Committee for Volga, told Russian news agencies.
The 23-year-old plane was from Tatarstan Airlines and had logged 56,000 flying hours while being owned by seven different airlines, a Russian aviation agency official said. In 2001 it had an accident in Brazil under Rio Sul and required serious repairs, but was last inspected in March of 2012.
Both black boxes were recovered from the wreckage, which was strewn across hundreds of feet of the tarmac.
To see footage of the debris and firefighters efforts to extinguish the resulting flames, click below.
