$20,000 is 'initial compensation': Al Ghaith

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 begining 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 in response to an Emirates 24|7 query.

Concerning the airport being operational and the weather, this is a discussion for the Russian officials, he said.

Al Ghaith added that the $20,000 payment that the airline has announced for the next of kin of victims is part of the initial payment to families. “The remaining will be paid after the investigations,” he said.

Al Ghaith also lauded the Russian investigators and said that the airline has received highest professional support from the Russian side.

When asked if the airport should have been closed, considering the weather conditions, Al Ghaith said that is not the airline’s call.

However, he reiterated that authorities there had the airport open, which means that it indeed was good enough to land.

When asked what was the airline was doing to increase passenger trust, Al Ghaith said the priority now is to care for the families of passengers and crew. “After the concluding the investigation, we are going to focus more on increasing the trust levels,” he said.

“We operate to high standards, and are working hard towards its success,” Al Ghaith said, adding that the airline hasn’t cancelled or delayed any flights in the wake of the incident.

“We have a clear communications policy,” Al Ghaith said.

He also denied rumours that pilots were flying to the airport for the first time, and reiterated that both the pilot and co-pilot were very experienced. In response to a query, Al Ghaith also noted that there was “enough fuel” in the aircraft.

At a media conference yesterday, the CEO confirmed that flydubai flight FZ981 crashed at Rostov-on-Don and that there were no survivors.

“At present, our priority is to identify and contact the families of those lost in today’s tragic accident and provide immediate support to those affected. 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 immediate financial needs,” the airline said late last year.

Background:

A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don in southwestern Russia crashed early Saturday morning, and all 55 passengers and seven crew onboard were killed, the budget carrier announced.

The Boeing 738 was trying to land in Rostov-on-Don, some 950 kilometres south of Moscow.

In a statement, Flydubai said that flight FZ981 crashed on landing at approximately 0050 GMT in Rostov on Don.

The aircraft departed from Dubai International Airport (DXB) at 1820 GMT bound for Rostov on Don (ROV).

Updated emergency call centre numbers: 

From outside Russia:

+44 20 3450 8853 or +971 4 293 4100

From within Russia:

810 44 20 3450 8853 or 810 971 4 293 4100

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