Too early to determine cause of flydubai jet crash: CEO

Date

3/19/2016 8:38:09 PM

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Authorities in Russia are investigating the plane crash and it is too early to say what caused a flydubai plane to crash on Saturday in southern Russia flydubai chief executive officer Ghaith Al Ghaith told reporters in Dubai.

"We will have information about the circumstances of the incident and the black box in the future and an investigation is being conducted in cooperation with the Russian authorities and we are waiting to see the results" Al Ghaith informed.

Early morning flydubai's plane crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport as it made a second attempt to land killing all 62 people on board confirmed flydubai.

"As far as we know the airport was open and we were good to operate" Al Ghaith said. "There was no distress call [issued] from the pilot."

"This investigation will take time until all facts are collected. Before we commit and say anything we have to be sure. If weather wasn't suitable the plane wouldn't have flown" he added. "Holding a plan for whatever convenience weather or slots is a judgement call at the moment."

In terms of maintenance Al Ghaith noted that the aircraft last underwent a 'C check' at a facility in Jordan on January 21. The 'C checks' are conducted every 20 to 24 months or after a specific amount of flight hours as defined by the aircraft manufacturer.

Al Ghaith also noted that no information has so far indicated that flying to another airport was an option. "As far as we are concerned we have not seen anything that would suggest that an alternative airport was on the cards but again we'd not know until all the information is put in front of us" he said.

On its website the Investigative Committee of Russia said "different versions of what happened are being looked into including crew error a technical failure and poor weather conditions".

FlightRadar24 a real-time aircraft tracking service noted that FZ981 was "climbing after a go-around when it suddenly started to fall with vertical speed of up to 21000 feet per minute".

Al Ghaith said a flydubai aircraft with specialised teams from the UAE will head to Russia to aid the probe which will also include personnel from Boeing and the US Federal Aviation Administration.

"I am personally leading our accident response with the support of the full management team. At this stage the focus of our efforts is on establishing the facts around the incident and providing all possible support to the authorities. As I speak members of our team are contacting relatives of the passengers and crew who were on board and we are offering any help we can to those affected" Al Ghaith said.

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