Fly Dubai : Over 60 killed

While investigators are yet to make an official statement about the cause of Saturday early morning air disaster when the Boeing 737-800 passenger jet –Flight FZ981 crash-landed at Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia, inclement weather seems increasingly likely to have played a role.

At least 62 people died in the crash.

Most of the victims were Russian holiday makers. Passengers and crew who died also included Ukrainian, Indian, Uzbek, Spanish and Cypriot citizens.

The aircraft crashed 250 m to the left of the runway on its second attempt to land at the end of a scheduled flight between Dubai and Rostov.

Vasily Golybev, the Head of Rostov region in Russia said a “hurricane force” gust of wind seemed to have struck flydubai flight FZ981 as it was coming into land, sending it off course and causing it to slam into the ground hundreds of meters from the runway.

Speaking to Russia’s NTV television channel on Saturday afternoon, he said an air pocket “thrust the aircraft to the left of the runway’s centre line,” as it attempted a second landing in difficult weather conditions in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Boeing making a statement on the air crash stated that under the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing would launch a team and serve as technical advisor to the investigating authority in charge, the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC).

- Telegraph.co.uk