Dubai: Russian air accident investigators on Friday released the first detailed report into the flydubai crash in Rostov-on-Don, Russia on March 19 that killed all 62 on board.
The preliminary report, released by the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee, said the Boeing 737-800 entered an “abrupt descent” after the control columns were “pushed down”, causing it to crash.
Subsequent actions by the pilots were unable to recover the airplane as it nosedived towards the ground, investigators said.
Flydubai issued a brief statement on Friday that said the airline was aware of the report and continues to assist in the investigation.
"We share the desire to get conclusive findings as quickly as possible," flydubai chief executive Gaith Al Gaith said.
The Russian investigators, who are being assisted by a team of international experts including from the United Arab Emirates and the United States, said they have gathered information from the airplane’s two black boxes.
The investigators said they have not reached a final conclusion and continue to analyse the data.
The UAE General Civil Aviation, who are assisting the Russian investigators, had no immediate comment on the report when contacted by Gulf News on Friday.
The Russian investigators said the two pilots made an initial attempt to manually land in “difficult weather conditions” with the autopilot turned off.
The pilots called off the landing because of wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed and direction that can make landing difficult.
The pilots then circled over the airport with autopilot switched off waiting for the weather conditions to improve.
A second attempt to land was also called off, this time at a height of 220 metres, and the pilots started to climb with engine thrusts on.
It was then at a height of 900 metres when the control column was pushed downwards, causing the airplane to nosedive and crash into the ground at a speed of over 600 kilometres an hour, the investigators said.
Analysis of the cockpit voice recorder, one of the two black boxes, is still on going, according to the investigators who said they’re also looking in to the “status and actions” of the crew leading up to the crash.
Flight 981 from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don crashed in the early hours of the morning on March 19, killing all 62 passengers and crew on board, including four children.
The crash is the worst aviation disaster involving a UAE airliner.