Kazakhstan Plane Crash Kills 22, Official Says

Almaty, Kazakhstan – A passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan on its way from Kokshetau to Almaty on Tuesday, killing all 22 people on board.

An emergency services official confirmed the crash as well as the death toll. The plane, a Canadian-built Bombardier Challenger CRJ-200, went down during heavy fog.

USA Today reports that the plane crash is the second major aircraft accident in the country in a month. Twenty-seven people died in December after a military plane crashed near Shymkent in the country’s south.

Yuri Ilyin, the deputy head of Almaty’s emergency services department, recalled seeing the plane go down. Reuters notes that he stated:

“There was no fire, no explosion. The plane just plunged to the earth.”

Deputy Almaty Mayor Maulen Mukashev also spoke about the crash, saying that the plane belonged to a private Kazakh airline named SCAT. The airline operates mostly domestic flights, though they do have some international flights. Mukashev added:

“The preliminary cause of the accident is bad weather. Not a single part of the plane was left intact after it came down.”

In the plane crash on December 25, prosecutors have concluded that a combination of technical problems, bad weather, and human errors led to the fatal incident.

SCAT stated that 15 passengers and five crew members were aboard the plane when it crashed, though Ilyin stated that the death toll was 22.

Visibility surrounding Almaty’s airport was limited on Tuesday. The plane was forced to make a second approach. When it did so, it disappeared from radar. The accident occurred around 1:13 pm local time.