Unfortunate news came in this morning about Bek Air’s Fokker aircraft which has crashed down near Almaty airport with 100 people on board and killing at least 15 people.
Fokker 100 aircraft from Kazakh airline Bek Air went down shortly after taking off from Almaty airport on Friday morning local time, smashing into a building and killing at least 15 people of 100 on board.
The plane “lost altitude after takeoff and broke through a concrete fence,” before colliding with a two-story building at approximately 7:22 a.m., local time, according to Almaty aviation authorities. There was no fire on impact.
At least 60 injured people, including children, were taken to hospitals.
Flight Z92100 was en route from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, to the capital Nur-Sultan. The cause of the crash is not known.
Maral Erman, one of the survivors, said the plane was shaking during take-off, Tengri News website reports. She said it first felt as if the plane had landed, but in fact “we hit something”.
“There wasn’t much chaos on board,” she said. “There were no screaming.” Ms Erman said the crew opened the exit for passengers to get out of the aircraft.
She added that she later saw the plane had “split in half”.
Bek Air is a small airline based in Kazakhstan and founded in 1999. Bek Air commands a fleet of 8 Fokker aircraft and the hub for this airline is at Oral Ak Zhol Airport.
The Fokker 100 aircraft involved in the crash was made into operation in 1996, according to the Kazakhstan Aviation Committee.
“The (plane) was 23 years old, but still a rugged airplane and has a very good service record,” Geoffrey Thomas, editor in chief of aviation website airlineratings.com, told CNN.
“Fokker built very good airplanes (with) a high degree of focus on structural integrity, which is why this airplane has not been broken up into more pieces,” Thomas said.
“The absence of a fire makes an enormous difference, and that is a major factor in the survivability of this, coupled with the strength of the fuselage. I am surprised that a fire did not break out. That is probably because the fuel tanks and the wings remain intact and didn’t rupture. Again, testament to the structure of the aircraft.”
A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.
Kazakhstan’s President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev expressed “deep condolences” to the victims’ relatives. He also said that “all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law”.
