Article Posted on : - Sep 14, 2008

MOSCOW (BNS): A Boeing 737 operated by a division of Russia’s Aeroflot crashed early on Sunday morning. The plane, which crashed a few feet away from an apartment complex as it approached for landing in Perm airport, had 88 passengers on board.

Spokespersons for Aeroflot and government agencies refused to immediately speak about casualties and survivors. The plane was carrying 82 passengers including seven children. Besides, six crewmembers were on board.

A spokesperson for Perm’s emergency services said there were no casualties on ground, since the plane crashed onto an unpopulated area with railway tracks, but just a few feet away from an apartment complex. Perm is about 1200 kilometers from Moscow, on the western edge of the Ural Mountains.

Aeroflot spokesperson Irina Danenberg said the plane was at an altitude of 3600 feet when it lost contact with the traffic controllers on ground.

The plane, going from Moscow to Perm, crashed at 3.40 am on Sunday, as it was approaching the Perm airport. The crash is the second Boeing 737 crash in the former Soviet Union area in just a month. On August 24, another Boeing 737 crashed a few minutes after take off when it was flying from Kyrgyzstan to Iran, killing 56 people.

Today’s crash yet again brings focus back to the former Soviet Union area, which has one of the world’s highest air accident rates. Besides, it would also bring back attention to crashes involving Boeing 737.