A BOEING 737-500 airliner has crashed on landing in the Russian city of Kazan, killing all 50 people on board and highlighting the poor safety record of Russian airlines that fly internal routes across the world's largest nation.
The Tatarstan airlines flight from Moscow was trying to abort its landing in order to make a second approach but exploded on hitting the runway, killing all 44 passengers and six crew on board.
Flight U363 had taken off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 2.25pm yesterday afternoon and crashed just over an hour later.
The plane was 23-years-old and, 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, which is located in central Russia.
Kazan, which is 500 miles east of Moscow, is capital of the largely-Muslim, oil-rich region of Tatarstan.
Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov's son Irek was on the list of 50 people who were killed in the crash.
A spokesman for the state aviation oversight agency Rosaviatsia said that the authorities would search for the flight recorders.
Sergei Izvolsky added: "The plane touched the ground and burst into flame.
"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 global airline safety had improved but accident rates had risen in Russia and the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.
In April 2012, 31 people were killed when a Russian passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off in Siberia.
In September 2011 a passenger jet carrying an ice hockey team crashed near Yaroslavl, killing 44 people.
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