On November 17, 2013 at 6:23 pm, Flight 363, an Ak Bars Aero/Tatarstan Boeing 737-500 en route from Moscow to Kazan, after several go-arounds, and more than one landing pass. On the second (?) attempt, an hour later, it crashed on landing at Kazan. On touchdown, the jet’s nose hit the ground.
The plane caught fire on impact after a fuel tank caught fire. None of the 44 passengers or 6 crew survived the fire.
The leased 23 year old plane was registered as VQ-BBN.
The Metars were reported as:
UWKD 171530Z 23008G11MPS 5000 -RASN OVC007 03/03 Q0993 R29/2/0055 NOSIG RMK QFE734/0979
UWKD 171500Z 23009G12MPS 9999 -RASN OVC008 03/02 Q0994 R29/2/0055 NOSIG RMK QFE735/0980
“The visibility was five thousand meters, the runway was dry. You cannot even imagine better conditions.”
NOTAMS:
A4677/13 – AD CLSD DUE TO TECR. 17 NOV 18:20 2013 UNTIL 18 NOV 08:00 2013. CREATED: 17 NOV 18:29 2013
Transport Prosecution Office has opened a criminal investigation.
The passenger list includes Alexander V. Antonov (regional head of Russia’s Federal Security Service) and Irek Minikhanov, son of the president of Tatarstan.
Emirates flight EK-35 made an emergency landing in Trabzon, Turkey, on February 4th.
American Airlines flight AA-134 had to return and make an emergency landing in Miami, Florida, on September 1st.