Quiet flow tears on the Don
Monument unveiled to the 62 who died in flydubai tragedy at Rostov-on-Don
Relatives and fellow mourners lay flowers at a Russian memorial to the 62 people killed when a flydubai Boeing 737-800 crashed in bad weather at Rostov-on-Don airport after an abortive landing attempt last year.
DUBAI // A monument to the victims of the flydubai plane crash in Russia was unveiled yesterday, the first anniversary of the tragedy that killed 62 passengers and crew.
The memorial, in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, has been named Interrupted Flight and stands close to the city’s airport. It was designed by Rostov sculptor Anatolly Sknarin and consists of three granite columns and a vertical stone slab bearing the victims’ names.
A sculpture of a bird lies near the slab as a symbol uniting the earth and air.
Ceremonies were held in Rostov-on-Don and in Dubai yesterday.
In Rostov- on- Don, religious leaders and relatives of passengers gathered at the memorial.
The flydubai Boeing 737-800 from Dubai crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport in the early hours of March 19 last year.
Complications arose during strong side winds and rain and the crash happened during a second attempt to land. The plane had circled for more than two hours before the ill- fated second attempt at landing.
“A year has passed from that horrible tragedy. Today, we open a memorial. Let me express condolences to the relatives of the victims,” Sputnik news agency quoted Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov as saying.
“Let this memorial symbolise their souls, which will remain forever in our hearts.”
In Dubai, flydubai’s chief exec- utive Ghaith Al Ghaith said: “Today offers a poignant reminder of the tragic loss of flight FZ981. Our hearts go out to the families of the passengers and crew who are mourning loved ones.
“At this time of reflection, we hope the memorials offer a degree of comfort to the families who continue to grieve. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the officials in Rostov-on-Don and my colleagues at flydubai who have made these memorials possible.”
A preliminary analysis of the data retrieved from flight recorders revealed the crew was attempting to land manually, without the autopilot.
While approaching at a height of 340 metres, the pilots aborted the landing because of wind shear – an abrupt change in wind speed and direction.
The report said the crew decided to wait for the weather to improve before making another attempt. At that point, at a height of 900 metres, controls were adjusted by the pilots with “a simultaneous control column nose down input and stabiliser five-degree nose down deflection” resulting in an abrupt descent.
The report said the crew was unable to regain control, and the jet hit the ground at about 600 kilometres per hour.
The investigation into the crash remains active.
Some of the families of the victims have been fighting for better compensation than Russian law entitles them to.
The Australian law firm Maurice Blackburn’s aviation law expert Joseph Wheeler and Russian lawyers acting for the families of 37 people said relatives are only entitled to a minimal amount of compensation. Under the Montreal Conven- tion, which more than 140 countries agreed to in 1999, relatives of an air crash victim must be paid about US$170,000 each.
Russia signed the convention last year, after the crash, and Maurice Blackburn said the passengers from FZ981 were not entitled to compensation.
“In the aftermath of the crash the Russian government acted to remedy this imbalance,” Mr Wheeler said. “Disappointingly, this will not apply to those affected by last year’s flydubai crash. This is unfair.”