Dozens Killed As Plane Crash Lands In Russia

Officials confirm 44 passengers and six crew members are dead after a Boeing 737 plane crashes in western Russia.

 

The Tatarstan airlines flight from Moscow was trying to abort its landing in order to make a second approach, but it exploded when it struck the runway.

Some 44 passengers and six crew members on board were killed, according to emergency officials.

The plane took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 6.25pm local time and crashed just over an hour later.

According to eyewitness reports, the Boeing lost altitude quickly and its fuel tank exploded on impact.

There were high winds and cloudy skies over the airport in central Russia at the time of the crash.

Boeing officials at the Dubai Airshow declined to comment on the crash.

The flight was operated by the regional Tatarstan airline, according to a spokeswoman from Russia's Emergencies Ministry.

Kazan, which is 500 miles east of Moscow, is the capital of the oil-rich region of Tatarstan.

A new runway was built at the airport ahead of the World Student Games, held in the city earlier this year.

A spokesman for state aviation oversight agency Rosaviatsia said authorities would search for the flight recorders.

"The plane touched the ground and burst into flame," Sergei Izvolsky said.

"The cause of the crash as of now is unknown."

Russia and the former Soviet republics combined had one of the world's worst air-traffic safety records in 2011, with a total accident rate almost three times the world average, according to the International Air Transport Association.

IATA said last year that global airline safety had improved but that accident rates had risen in Russia and the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

In April 2012, at least 31 people were killed when a Russian passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off in Siberia.