A Saratov Airlines flight crashed in a snowy area near Moscow on Sunday, killing all 71 people on board, CNN reports. The six crew members didn’t note any problems with the Antonov An-148 aircraft before the flight took off. Along with the fatalities of the crew members, 65 passengers, including three children aged 17 and under, have died.
According to Russian state news agency Tass, the plane took off from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow with plans to land in Orsk, a Russian city close to Kazakhstan. Officials lost track of the plane soon after its takeoff and are still unsure of what elements led to the plane’s crash.
A plane carrying 71 people crashed in the Moscow area, Russian state media news agency Tass reports https://t.co/rskEKkK8Ih pic.twitter.com/e9sorCebUa
— CNN (@CNN) February 11, 2018
With the Moscow area experiencing more snowfall than it has in decades, the harsh weather isn’t being ruled out as a factor in the crash. Officials from the Investigative Committee of Russia have now launched a criminal investigation of the incident, and will likely turn to the plane’s flight data recorder for any hints of what went wrong.
They may also closely observe the debris at the crash site, which is about 25 miles from the airport and reportedly covers 0.6 miles of terrain.
In a statement shared via a spokesman, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he “expresses deep condolences to all those who lost relatives and friends in this disaster.”
Our heartfelt thoughts are with the victims of the crash and their families.