Kazakhstan plane crash: Bek Air plane comes down near Almaty airport
28-12-2019, 07:03

Font size: [ A+ ] / [ A- ]

A passenger jet has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people but leaving dozens of survivors.

The Bek Air plane was flying from Almaty - Kazakhstan's largest city - to the capital Nur-Sultan when it smashed into a building just after take-off.

The Fokker 100 aircraft had 93 passengers and five crew members on board. Survivors described walking from the wreckage into the dark and snow.

Dozens are being treated in hospital. The cause of the crash is unclear.

A Reuters news agency reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog at the time.

The interior ministry initially said 15 people had been killed, but it later revised the number of victims down to 12.

Kazakhstan's aviation committee has suspended all Bek Air flights as well as those involving Fokker 100 aircraft pending the results of the investigation.

 

What's known about the crash?

 

The Flightradar24 information website said the flight departed at 07:21 (01:21 GMT), and "the last signal was received in that same minute".

The airport said the plane lost height at 07:22 before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-storey building. There was no fire upon impact.

Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said the plane's tail had scraped the runway twice during take-off, leaving marks.

 

One survivor, businessman Aslan Nazaraliyev, told the BBC that the plane had begun vibrating violently. People screamed and the aircraft smashed into the ground.

He said part of the plane was crushed like "an aluminium can". He and others managed to get out and helped fellow passengers to safety.

"It was ugly. It was dark. We were lighting with cell phone lights," Mr Nazaraliyev said.

Another told news website Tengrinews she heard a "terrifying sound" before the plane started losing altitude.

"The plane was flying at a tilt. Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying," she said.

What of the victims?

Mr Sklyar said that most of the passengers who died or suffered serious injuries were in the front part of the plane.

Eight people died at the scene, two while being treated at the airport and two in hospital, AFP news agency reports.

Some 67 people were injured in the accident, nine of them children, the health ministry said. Forty-nine were still in hospital on Friday evening, of whom eight people were said to be in a critical condition.

Most of those on board were Kazakh citizens although Chinese, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian nationals were reportedly among the injured.

The captain has been confirmed as one of the fatalities.

The editor of the Informburo.kz website said one of its journalists, 35-year-old Dana Kruglova, was killed while flying to see her parents for New Year.

What's been the reaction?

A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.

Kazakhstan's President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev has declared a day of national mourning on Friday.

He expressed his "deep condolences" to relatives and said "all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law".

He also ordered an audit of all Kazakh airlines.

Bek Air also expressed its condolences and said it was doing everything it could to clarify what happened.

Almaty's airport said it was operating normally and the flight schedule was unaffected.

Nur-Sultan - a city formerly known as Astana - was renamed after former-President Nursultan Nazarbayev shortly after he stood down in March.

 

What are the odds of surviving a plane crash?

 

A survey of crashes in the US between 1983 and 2000 found that 95% of aircraft occupants survived accidents, including 55% in the most serious incidents.

A study of crashes worldwide by the European Transport Safety Council has found that 90% are survivable.

Flying remains the safest way to travel. Your chances of being in a crash in the first place are vanishingly small.

In 2018 - an average year in terms of aircraft accidents - 514 people died worldwide in crashes involving commercial flights, from a total of more than four billion passengers.

What is known about Bek Air?

 

It was founded in 1999, initially targeting VIP flight operations, the company's website says.

Nowadays, the company describes itself as Kazakhstan's first low-cost airline.

Its fleet is made up of seven Fokker 100 aircraft. The aircraft in this crash received its most recent flight certificate in May.

 

  • Medium-sized twin-turbofan airliner, designed mainly for short-range flights
  • First flight in 1986 - 283 jets built in total
  • Production terminated in 1997 after Fokker, a Dutch manufacturer, went bankrupt
  • Maintenance division taken over by other aircraft services firms
  • Has been involved in two other serious crashes. A Palair Macedonian Airlines flight crashed after takeo-ff from Skopje, North Macedonia, in 1993, killing 83 of the 97 people on board. All 99 people on board a TAM flight died in a crash near São Paulo, Brazil, in 1996. Four others died on the ground.
Presentational grey line

This is not the first serious plane crash in the city.

On 29 January 2013, a passenger plane travelling from the northern town of Kokshetau came down near Almaty, killing 20 people.

A month earlier, 27 people died when a military plane carrying senior Kazakh security officials crashed in the south of the country.

 

BBC

 

Comments: 526
#366   Cliff
      
Currently it ⅼooks like BlogEngine iis tһе best blogging platfoprm ⲟut thеre right noѡ.
(from what Ӏ've read) Ӏs tһat ԝhat you're using ߋn ʏօur blog?



My site; www.letmejerk.com
14 April 2026 06:46
#365   Gail
      
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you
wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics
to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this
is fantastic blog. A fantastic read. I'll certainly
be back.

Here is my webpage hi88
14 April 2026 03:14
#364   Roosevelt
      
13 April 2026 23:56
#363   Byron
      
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've worked hard on.
Any tips?

Here is my webpage; www aol com aol mail login
13 April 2026 07:29
#362   Hollis
      
Do you have a spam problem on this site; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have developed some nice methods and
we are looking to swap solutions with other folks, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested.


Take a look at my homepage; website
12 April 2026 19:46
#361   Maynard
      
Great article, exactly what I needed.

my page - paypal
12 April 2026 13:53
#360   Betty
      
Hello, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.

When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it
has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads
up! Other then that, excellent blog!

Also visit my web site; Eskort Kayapınar
12 April 2026 08:07
#359   Abbie
      
I am in fact thankful to the owner of this web site who has shared this impressive piece of
writing at at this time.

Here is my blog: ทดลองเล่นบาคาร่าฟรี
11 April 2026 18:21
#358   Darrel
      
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren't loading properly.
I'm not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I've tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.



my web page roulettedirect.com
11 April 2026 03:31
#357   Kelly
      
Your means of describing all in this article is genuinely good,
every one be capable of without difficulty understand it, Thanks a lot.


Check out my webpage mobile x radiology
10 April 2026 21:08
#356   Christena
      
Can you tell us more about this? I'd like to find out
some additional information.

Here is my blog - au88
10 April 2026 20:58
#355   Delbert
      
Hello, after reading this awesome article i am too cheerful to share my familiarity here with mates.


Have a look at my website ... Recommended Reading
10 April 2026 17:45
#354   Margene
      
What i do not understood is if truth be told how you're now
not actually a lot more neatly-appreciated than you might be now.
You're very intelligent. You realize therefore significantly relating to this topic,
produced me in my opinion imagine it from numerous
varied angles. Its like men and women are not involved unless
it's one thing to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs excellent.
All the time maintain it up!

Visit my website - phim sex mia nanasawa
10 April 2026 06:34
#353   Julio
      
My brother recommended I may like this blog. He was entirely right.

This post truly made my day. You can not believe just how so much time I had spent for this info!
Thank you!

Feel free to visit my site - sayt mostbet
10 April 2026 01:15
#352   Sal
      
Heya! I understand this is sort of off-topic
however I had to ask. Does running a well-established website like
yours take a massive amount work? I'm completely new to operating a blog however I do
write in my diary everyday. I'd like to start a blog
so I can easily share my personal experience and views online.
Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners.

Appreciate it!

Feel free to visit my blog post tajima embroidery
9 April 2026 13:59
#351   Marcos
      
That is really attention-grabbing, You are an excessively professional blogger.

I've joined your feed and stay up for looking for more of your magnificent post.
Also, I've shared your web site in my social networks

my webpage ... xem ngay sex việt nam không che
9 April 2026 05:12
#350   Gabriel
      
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you should write
more on this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but generally people
do not talk about these subjects. To the next! Many
thanks!!

Here is my page ... next
page


Pretty component of content. I simply stumbled
upon your site and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually loved account your weblog
posts. Any way I'll be subscribing in your feeds or even I
achievement you access consistently quickly.

Feel free to visit my web-site: find more
8 April 2026 13:28
#349   Shavonne
      
Great blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out.
Please let me know where you got your design. Many thanks

Also visit my page - this review
8 April 2026 03:39
#348   Tandy
      
有道翻译官网提供全面的翻译解决方案及软件下载服务,用
8 April 2026 02:04
#347   Travis
      
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up!
I'll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back in the future.
All the best

Feel free to surf to my web page; Los Angeles Gun Crime Lawyer
7 April 2026 17:39
Add Comments

Name:*
E-Mail:
  Geo Keyboard  
 

Dear reader, guardian.ge welcomes your comments. Please express your views on topic and be respectful of others.

bold italic underline strike | align left centered align right | Ensert smilies insert linkInsert protected URL Choice the color | hidden text insert quote Convert selected text from transliteration to Cyrillic alphabet Insert spoiler

Code: *


Back1 ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ... 27Next