Russia: Boeing plane crashes in Russia, 50 on board killed - by Jim Heintz

A Boeing 737 jetliner crashed and burst into flames Sunday night while trying to land at the airport in the Russian city of Kazan, killing all 50 people aboard in the latest in a string of deadly crashes across the country.

The Tatarstan Airlines plane was trying to make a second landing attempt when it touched the surface of the runway near the control tower, and was ‘‘destroyed and caught fire,’’ said Sergei Izvolky, the spokesman for the Russian aviation agency.

The Emergencies Ministry said there were 44 passengers and six crew members aboard the evening flight from Moscow and all had been killed. Kazan, a city of about 1.1 million and the capital of the Tatarstan republic, is about 720 kilometers (450 miles) east of the capital.

The ministry released a list of the dead, which included Irek Minnikhanov, the son of Tatarstan’s governor, and Alexander Antonov, who headed the Tatarstan branch of the Federal Security Service, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.

Some Russian air crashes have been blamed on the use of aging aircraft, but industry experts point to a number of other problems, including poor crew training, crumbling airports, lax government controls and widespread neglect of safety in the pursuit of profits.

The Emergencies Ministry released photographs from the nighttime scene showing parts of the aircraft and debris scattered across the ground. Ambulances lined up in front of the airport building.

Read more: Boeing plane crashes in Russia, 50 on board killed - Europe news - Boston.com

Digital Journal: Dutch KLM Boeing 737-800's had 17 altimeter failures in 6 months - by Adriana Stuijt

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Dutch KLM Boeing 737-800's had 17 altimeter failures in 6 months - by Adriana Stuijt

Dutch KLM airlines' Boeing 737-800s recorded 17 radio-altimeter failures over the past 6 months, similar to the problem identified as the most likely cause of the crash of the Turkish Airlines' Boeing 737-800 two weeks ago, in which 9 people were killed.
This important information - indicating that there may be a structural problem with Boeing's 737-800 passenger lines' altimeters - the instruments which record the plane's height from the ground with radio-waves and are directly linked to its automatic pilot system -- was contained in confidential documents published by the Dutch news-radio BNR. The radio station has been unable to get any comment from Boeing about the issue.

AP: Bad altimeter in Boeing 737-800 a factor in Netherlands plane crash - by Toby Sterling

For the complete report from AP click on this link

Bad altimeter in Boeing 737-800 a factor in Netherlands plane crash - by Toby Sterling

A faulty flight instrument aboard a Turkish Boeing 737-800 lowered the plane's airspeed, setting off warning signals in the cockpit and prompting the pilots to try and accelerate before it crashed in the Netherlands, officials said Wednesday. The Turkish Airlines plane carrying 135 passengers and crew crashed less than a mile from the runway at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport shortly before it was due to land on Feb. 25. Nine people were killed.The Boeing 737-800 had twice before experienced problems with its altimeter, said Dutch Safety Authority chief investigator, Pieter van Vollenhoven, at a news conference at The Hague. He said the Safety Authority has warned Boeing of the problem and asked the company to alert customers that when altimeters are not functioning properly "the automatic pilot and the gas system coupled to them may not be used for approach and landing." Boeing said it was reminding all operators of its 737s to carefully monitor primary flight instruments during critical phases, adding that it was carefully monitoring the fleet.