A flydubai Boeing 737, en route from Dubai to Russia’s Rostov-on-Don Airport, crashed on landing March 19. The airline said all 55 passengers and seven crew members on board the aircraft were killed.

An initial statement from Russian emergency and accident investigation agencies said there was severe weather, with strong winds, rain and snowfall, in the area at the time. They also said the aircraft's voice and flight data recorders had been recovered and that weather, pilot error and technical error were among potential causes being considered. Video shows the aircraft rapidly and steeply descending and exploding on impact. 

Flydubai issued a statement on its website, saying: “Flydubai regrets to confirm that flight FZ981 crashed on landing and that fatalities have been confirmed as a result of this tragic accident. The aircraft departed from Dubai International (DXB) at 18:20 GMT bound for Rostov-on-Don (ROV). The accident occurred in Rostov-on-Don at approximately 00:50 GMT.

A later statement March 20 added: “At present, our priority is to identify and contact the families of those lost in today’s tragic accident and provide immediate support to those affected. Flydubai will additionally organize a program of hardship payments to the families amounting to $20,000 per passenger, in accordance with our Conditions of Carriage, with the aim of addressing immediate financial needs.”

Initial focus areas by the Russian accident investigation agency included the severe weather with strong winds in the area at the time. The aircraft, which had flown from Dubai as FZ981, had been in a holding pattern for almost two hours and aborted an earlier attempt to land because of the weather. Other aircraft had also aborted landing attempts.

Video showed the aircraft rapidly and steeply descending before exploding on impact. The voice and flight data recorders were recovered. It was not believed that any emergency call was made.

Flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith issued a statement saying he was leading the airline response team personally and was devastated by the crash. "Everyone in the company is deeply shocked and our hearts go out to the loved ones of all those involved," he said.

He said those onboard included 44 Russians, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one Uzbekistani.

Boeing said in a statement: " Under the direction of the US National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing is launching a team and will serve as technical advisor to the investigating authority in charge, the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC). In accordance with the international protocol governing aviation accident investigations, all inquiries about the investigation must be directed to the IAC."

Flydubai has an all CFM56-powered 737-800 fleet. The low-cost carrier was created by the Dubai government in 2008.