A Bek Air Fokker 100 crashes on take-off from Almaty

12 people dead and dozens injured

Bek Air crash The Fokker 100 sustained damage beyond repair in the crash, investigation is in progress (Kazakhstan’s Emergency response committee)

12 people were killed and dozens seriously injured in today’s crash at Almaty airport of a Fokker 100 aircraft operated by Kazakhstan airline Bek Air. It is the first accident involving a Kazakh carrier after seven years of safe operations. The country’s authorities have already grounded Bek Air during investigations.

FACTS

On December 27, a Fokker 100 with registration UP-F1007, being operated as Bek Air Flight Z9-2100 from Almaty to Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana) at 07:22 local time, failed to climb after take-off and crashed into a building adjacent to Almaty International Airport. The exact location of the crash site is between Guldala and Almerek localities. The rescue services responded immediately. The crash did not result in a fire.

According to Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation committee, 12 people were killed in the crash and several more were in a critical condition and were taken to hospitals. Preliminary data indicates there were 93 passengers and five crew members aboard, on a flight led by captain Marat Muratbayev and first officer Mirjan Muldakulov.

The Fokker 100’s current airworthiness certificate, which was issued in May 2019, was a 23-year old aircraft that has been registered on the Kazakhstani roster since August 26, 2016.

A special government commission headed by Kazakhstan’s prime minister Askar Mamin, has arrived at the crash site. Investigation experts of the Interstate Aviation Committee have also been summoned to work on the case.

AIRLINE FOR PEOPLE

Bek Air, which calls itself ‘the airline for people’ is one of Kazakhstan’s four largest air carriers. A privately-owned airline, it was founded two decades ago in 1999 and is based at Uralsk, the administrative centre of western Kazakhstan. Several businessmen and statesmen from the team of Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev were initially involved as the airline’s ‘founding fathers’, with Nurlan Zhumasultanov acting as the ‘talking head’ for the airline for several years. He had previously made a career at the presidential security service. Later on he developed an aviation-related business before emerging as the head of the aviation accident investigation office at Kazakhstan’s ministry for industry and infrastructure development.

Bek Air launched operations with the declaration: “Don’t help us, just don’t interfere and we’ll manage,” and a significant rise in Bek Air’s development followed after Kazakhstan’s aviation authorities liberalised the market in 2012. That’s when Bek Air started operating its first Fokker 100 (UP-F1004 which is still in service with the airline) and has been building up its fleet of the type ever since.

In the middle of that decade, Bek Air rode the wave of growing traffic numbers, when its management declared their intention to turn the airline into Kazakhstan’s main carrier, serving domestic and local routes. The airline’s achievements were partly due to its monopolistic position at Uralsk airport.

“Our main emphasis was on linking the two capitals of Astana [now Nur-Sultan] and Almaty, with each other, and with regional centres. Obviously, we started by studying the passenger flows and the market in general, which had already been dominated by other players, namely Air Astana and SCAT. To make the market entry smooth for us we offered a distinct fares policy. It seems like it has worked,” a Bek Air spokesperson previously shared with Russian Aviation Insider.

According to official sources, before the crash, Bek Air’s fleet counted nine Fokker 100s aged between 24 and 30 years. A fleet upgrade had never been undertaken, even though the airline signed letters of intent for Russia’s Superjet 100 and for the MC-21 aircraft types.

No data is currently available on the airline’s most recent operational performance, but there are indications of a downward trend in 2018 and 2019, as Bek Air’s business was negatively affected by the arrival of new budget airlines Qazaq Air and FlyArystan.

On March 27, Bek Air’s Fokker 100 with registration UP-F1012 performed a landing with its nose gear retracted. No one was hurt in that incident, and the pilot received a state commendation.

Now the airline is likely to come under the most intense scrutiny – and even the prospect of being closed down altogether. Other airlines have often expressed disdain towards Bek Air, blaming it for “ruining the image” of the country’s air travel industry. Its significance has also decreased after the rapid advance of Qazaq Air and FlyArystan. In the meantime the Kazakh government is keeping a close watch on the business, both in terms of its safety and fares, and the outlook for Bek Air is not looking good in either respect.

Kazakhstan’s aviation administration has already imposed a temporary suspension of Bek Air’s air operator’s certificate.

12 people were dead and dozens seriously injured in today’s crash of Fokker 100 aircraft operated by Kazakhstan’s airline Bek Air at Almaty airport. This is the first accident involving a Kazakh carrier after seven years of safe operations. The country’s authorities have already grounded Bek Air.

FACTS

On December 27, Fokker 100 with registration UP-F1007 operating Bek Air Flight Z9-2100 from Almaty to Nur-Sultan (former Astana) failed to climb after take-off and crashed into a building in the vicinity of Almaty International Airport at 07:22 local time. The exact location of the crash site is between Guldala and Almerek localities. The rescue services responded immediately. The crash did not result in a fire.

According to Kazakhstan’s Civil aviation committee, 12 people were killed in the crash, several more were taken to hospitals in critical condition. Preliminary data indicates there were 93 passengers on board and five crew, led by captain Marat Muratbayev and FO Mirjan Muldakulov.

The Fokker 100’s current airworthiness certificate was issued in May 2019. The 23-year old aircraft had been registered on Kazakhstani roster since August 26, 2016.

A special government commission headed by Kazakhstan’s PM Askar Mamin has arrived at the crash site. Investigation experts of the Interstate Aviation Committee have also been summoned to work on the case.

AIRLINE FOR PEOPLE

Bek Air, which calls itself ‘airline for people’ is one of Kazakhstan’s four largest air carriers. The privately-owned airline was founded two decades ago in 1999 and has been based in Uralsk, the administrative centre of Western Kazakhstan. Several businessmen and statesmen from the team of Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev were involved as the airline’s ‘founding fathers’. For instance, Nurlan Zhumasultanov acted as the ‘talking head’ for the airline for several years. He had previously made a career at the presidential security service. Later on he developed aviation-related business before emerging as the head of aviation accident investigation office at Kazakhstan’s ministry for industry and infrastructure development.

Bek Air launched operations with a declaration “don’t help us, just don’t interfere and we’ll manage.” But the significant rise of Bek Air’s development followed after Kazakhstan’s aviation authorities liberalized the market in 2012. That’s when Bek Air started operating its first Fokker 100 (UP-F1004 is still in service with the airline) and has been building up the fleet of the type since.

In the middle of the ongoing decade Bek Air rode the wave of growing traffic numbers, when its management declared intention to make the airline Kazakhstan’s main carrier serving domestic and local routes. The airline’s achievements were partly due to its monopolist position at Uralsk airport.

“We made the main emphasis on linking the two capitals – Astana [now Nur-Sultan] and Almaty, with each other and with regional centres. Obviously, we started by studying the passenger flows and the market in general, because it had already been dominated by other players – Air Astana and SCAT. To make the market entry smooth for us we offered a distinct fare policy. Seems like it’s worked,” Bek Air spokesperson shared with Russian Aviation Insider earlier.

According to official sources, before the crash Bek Air’s fleet counted nine Fokker 100s aged between 24 and 30 years. The fleet upgrade had never been undertaken, although the airline signed LoI’s for Russia’s Superjet 100 and for MC-21.

No data is currently available on the airline’s most recent operational performance, but there are indications of a downward trend on 2018 and 2019, as the Bek Air’s business was affected by the advance of new budget airlines Qazaq Air and FlyArystan.

On March 27 Bek Air’s Fokker 100 with registration UP-F1012 performed a landing with its nose gear retracted. No one was hurt in the incident, and the pilot received a state reward.

Now the airline may face up to the most serious scrutiny, even being closed down. Other airlines often express arrogance towards Bek Air, blaming it for “ruining the image” of the country’s air travel industry. Its significance has also decreased after the rapid advance of Qazaq Air and FlyArystan. In the meantime Kazakh government is keeping a close watch of the industry, both in terms of safety and fares, and Bek Air is not looking good in either respect.

Kazakhstan’s aviation administration has already imposed a temporary suspension on Bek Air’s air operator certificate.

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Russian Aviation Insider
Newsletter
Powered by Air Transport Observer, Russia & CIS’ premier information provider on commercial aviation with a 20-year legacy, Russian Aviation Insider provides you with timely and reliable business news, insights and analysis on commercial aviation all around CIS.
Sign up for our free Newsletter and never miss:
  • Airline Business news and analysis
  • Aerospace Industry updates
  • Traffic statistic data and trends
  • Airport, MRO, Leasing and other related businesses
  • Appointments and promotions

Get relevant data from reliable industry sources!

Leave a comment