Boeing 737 Crashes In Russia 'Killing 50 Passengers And Crew'

A Boeing 737 passenger airline on a domestic flight in Russia has crashed and burst into flames while trying to touch down at an airport, killing all 50 passengers and crew on board.

The aircraft, belonging to Tatarstan Airlines had been attempting a second landing in the city of Kazan, when it crashed, officials have said.

There were no immediate indications of what may have caused the crash, which left no survivors.

The ministry released a list of the dead, which included Irek Minnikhanov, 23, the son of Tatarstan's governor, and Alexander Antonov, who headed the Tatarstan branch of the Federal Security Service, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.

Mr Antonov was accompanying newlywed Mr Minnikhanov, son of Rustam Minnikhanov, who wed French woman Antonia Guichard just three months ago.
Reports said the plane appeared to lose altitude as it was making a second landing attempt, crashing and catching fire.
'The aircraft collided with the ground on its second attempt to land,' said an air traffic control source

Another source said the plane had made three attempts to land and lost altitude quickly in high winds and cloudy skies.
Weather in the city soon after was reported to be light precipitation and winds of about 8 meters per second, or 18 mph. The 23 year old plane 'hit the runway and burst into flames', said a source at Russia's Investigative Committee which has opened a criminal probe into the horror. A fuel tank was said to have exploded as the plane came down.
Firefighters extinguished a blaze on the aircraft. The plane, which took off from Domodedovo airport in Moscow, crashed at 7.20pm, or 3.20pm GMT, today, at the airport in Kazan, located in Tatarstan, in the west of the country.