(Bloomberg) -- Pilot error likely contributed to the fatal crash of a FlyDubai plane in southern Russia last month, an initial report by investigators indicated.
Amid windshear warnings and severe turbulence, the crew aborted an attempted landing at Rostov-on-Don Airport. But as they revved the engines to regain altitude, the plane was inexplicably put into a “nose-down” position, leading to a sudden descent of the Boeing Co. 737-800 that doomed all 62 people on board, the Interstate Aviation Committee said in a statement on Friday after a preliminary review of flight data.
“The initial report suggests that this wasn’t a problem with the aircraft, but an action by the crew that resulted in changing the plane from a climb into a descent,” said Paul Hayes, safety specialist at London-based aviation consultancy Ascend Worldwide. “While the report doesn’t specifically say the pilot commanded the nose-down configuration, it’s a reasonable assumption to make.”
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