Updated
Dubai, March 20 (IANS): Dubai-based low-cost carrier FlyDubai said on Sunday it will pay $20,000 per victim following the crash of its plane from Dubai to Russia.
The airline said it was their priority to identify and contact the families of those killed in the accident and provide immediate support to those affected by Saturday's tragedy, Xinhua reported.
"FlyDubai will additionally organise a programme of hardship payments to the families amounting to $20,000 per passenger, in accordance with our conditions of carriage, with the aim of addressing the immediate financial needs," it said.
The FlyDubai flight 981, which came from Dubai, was making its second attempt to land at the Rostov-on-Don airport at 3.50 p.m. (Moscow time) on Saturday when it missed the runway and crashed.
"We ensure the highest standards of investigations and express our deep condolences to the family members of the victims and the crew," said CEO Ghaith Al-Ghaith on Saturday.
The plane carried 55 passengers and seven crew members on board, including four children. Among the passengers, 44 of them were Russians, eight from Ukraine, two from India and one from Uzbekistan.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800 made in 2011. The pilot had 5,965 flight hours experience and the co-pilot 5,769 hours, Al-Ghaith said.
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Earlier Report
FlyDubai crash : Avoid speculation on cause of accident, says Airline CEO
Dubai, Mar 20 (Emirates 247) : Flydubai is holding a press conference today at the Government of Dubai Media Office Dubai to update the media on the crash of its flight from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don in southwestern Russia early Saturday morning.
“There will be no speculation on the cause of the accident,” journalists were told at the beginning of the conference today.
Today's conference is being addressed by Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of the airline; and James Vile, Senior Vice-President - Flight Operations, Flydubai.
“We have been discussing on two key priorities… care for families and support for investigation," said Al Ghaith.
“We have our specialists on ground now, both in Moscow and Dubai,” he said. “We are making arrangements for families to visit Moscow,” Al Ghaith said, adding that “efforts to contact families are ongoing.”
“We can’t release names of passengers until we are sure that the family has been informed,” Al Ghaith reiterated.
“Engineers at the crash site working with authorities to investigate and support,” he added.
“I am personally leading the airline response,” the CEO said.
He noted that a lot of speculation is going on with regards to the cause of the crash, but stressed that “we want to avoid speculations.”
He reiterated that at this stage, we must not be drawn into any kind of speculation. “Please give the investigators time to do their job and come out with results,” he said.
When asked what was found in the Black Boxes, James Vile said “we cannot speculate what is in the black box. There is a set process that is being followed,” he said.
He added that, as per the Russian authorities, the weather was good enough to land. “The airport was operational,” he said.
The aircraft was fully insured, Al Ghaith said.