DUBAI // Family members of the 55 passengers and seven crew who lost their lives on-board flight FZ981 are being offered the chance to visit the crash site where their loved ones perished.
A trip to Rostov-on-Don airport, in Southern Russia, has been offered by FlyDubai as part of the ongoing support being offered to bereaved families. The airline said that the families are the priority so it would do whatever is required to take them to the site, if they wish to go.
At a press conference in Dubai on Sunday, airline officials continued to refuse to comment on speculation that weather may have been responsible for the crash.
FlyDubai's chief executive, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said the airline was "one family", and its priority was supporting the families of those lost.
He said no further details would be officially released until all family members had been notified.
"We are making preparations for family who wish to visit the scene of the accident to do so," he said.
"We ask that, during a sensitive time, we should give them the time and space to grieve. Throughout yesterday we made efforts to contact as many family members as possible and those affected, and that is continuing,
"We will not reveal the names of passengers until we know their family have been told first."
This is in contrast to Russian authorities, who have already released the passengers' names.
Mr Al Ghaith said weather conditions at the time of the crash were "normal", and both pilots had experience landing at the airport.
A specialist team from FlyDubai has travelled to Russia to aid the efforts of authorities.
"We have a specialist care team on the ground in Rostov and in Dubai," he said.
"As far as the investigation is concerned, we have specialist from our engineering, safety and security department on the ground at the crash site.
"They will be working with the authorities to help them identify the cause of the accident as soon as possible.
"They are there to provide experience and information that air accident investigations might need.
"I am personally leading the airline response, receiving regular updates from their engineering team on the ground.
"We know there has been a great deal of speculation as to the cause of this tragedy. We share this desire to get answers as quickly as possible but we must not be drawn into speculation.
"We ask that investigating authorities are given the time and space they need to report on the case to finds out what happened."
nwebster@thenational.ae
http://ift.tt/1R9qIjY
3Novices Europe
No comments:
Post a Comment