KAZAN, Russia, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Investigators in Russia located flight recorders from a Boeing 737 that crashed at an airport in Kazan, killing all 50 people on board, officials said Monday.
A container holding the recorders was badly damaged in the Sunday crash, the Interstate Aviation Committee officials said
Six crew members and 44 passengers were on the Tatarstan Airlines plane -- en route from Moscow to Kazan -- when the accident occurred.
The pilot had attempted two landings and was trying to circle the airport when the plane crashed, a Kazan airport air traffic controller, Kirill Kornishin, told broadcaster Rossiya-24.
"He reported that he was performing another circle, and I dictated the data to him, according to procedure, and that was that," he said.
Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov said it was unclear if the plane burst into flames before landing or upon impact.
Investigators said the accident could have been caused by pilot error or a technical malfunction.
Among the dead were Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov's son, Irek, and Lt. Gen. Alexander Antonov, Federal Security Service department chief, RIA Novosti reported.
