ROSTOV-ON-DON, March 23. /TASS/. The first FlyDubai plane has landed at the airport in Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don after the crash on March 19, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.
The plane safely returned tourists after their vacation in the United Arab Emirates. "The plane was expected to land 1:20am Moscow time according to schedule but it managed to do so even earlier - at 0:46am Moscow time," the airport’s director for strategic communications Olga Ladeyschikova said.
A FlyDubai’s Boeing 737-800 crashed at Rostov-on-Don’s airport in the small hours on March 19 during a second attempt to land in complicated weather conditions of strong side wind and rain. The plane served regular Flight FZ 981 from Dubai. The passenger jet capable of carrying 189 passengers had 62 people aboard, including the crew. None has survived.
The investigation looks into several leads: a pilot error, a technical malfunction, bad weather conditions, and others.
After the crash, FlyDubai temporarily suspended flights to the airport in Rostov-on-Don.