Kazakhstan Suspends Fokker Bek Air 100 Flights After Deadly Crash

Government of Kazakhstan has suspended flight authorisation for local operator Bek Air following the fatal Fokker 100 crash at Almaty, on Friday.

Ninety-three passengers and five crew members were onboard flight Z92100 enroute to Nur-Sultan city, when it lost height after take-off and crashed into a concrete wall and subsequently a two-storey building, Kazakh ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development said in a statement on December 27.

Bek Air’s flight certificate and operating authorisation have been “suspended” as of 27 December, until further notice, by the country’s civil aviation administration. The airline has nine Fokker 100 planes, the ministry said.

The 23-year old aircraft was issued an airworthiness certificate for the Rolls-Royce Tay-powered twinjet in May 2019, and was valid until May of next year. The jet was placed on the Kazakh registry in July 2013.

According to the ministry, 12 people were killed in the incident. “Details on the circumstances and causes of the accident will be established,” the statement read.