Authorities Investigating Deadly Russian Plane Crash
The president of the Russian republic of Tatarstan declared Monday a day of mourning as crews continued to look for bodies in the wreckage of a Russian jetliner that crashed on landing a day earlier.
All 50 people on board, including the son of Tatarstan regional President Rustam Minnikhanov, died in the crash in Tatarstan's capital, Kazan.
Richard Quest, CNN International Business Correspondent and the host of “Quest Means Business”, is closely familiar with the Boeing 737 and weighs in on the known details of the crash.
Closed-circuit video, aired on Russian media outlets, shows the plane vertical to the ground as it crashes in the darkness, creating a large fireball and a wide fire on the ground.
The victims ranged in age from 13 to 87, according to a list of names the airline posted on its website. Among them was Lt. Gen. Alexander Antonov, the regional chief of Russia's Federal Security Service, and a British national.
"Not all the bodies have been located," Deputy Emergency Situation Situations Minister Vladimir Stepanov told local media Monday morning. "The main work will be completed today."
Officials do not know why Tatarstan Airlines flight 363 crashed. Authorities say they have confiscated documents and fuel samples from Tatarstan Airlines.
Part of the answer may lie in the Boeing 737's flight and data recorders. Russian officials say they've found the flight recorders, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency said Monday.
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