The Civil Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (CAAKZ) has grounded Bek Air (BEK, Almaty International) in the wake of the crash of one of its ten Fokker 100s on Friday, December 27.
UP-F1007 (msn 11496) was climbing out of Almaty International en-route to Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev at 0722L (0122Z) when it lost height, crashed through a concrete fence and impacted a two-storey building. According to a CAAKZ statement, the accident occurred in the Almaty region's Talgar district, between the settlements of Guldala and Almerek. Of the 93 passengers and 5 crew on-board, 12 (eight adults and four children) have so far been confirmed dead.
A commission headed by the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Askar Mamin, and which includes Deputy Prime Minister Askar Zhumagaliyev and Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibut Atamkulov, has since been established to determine the cause of the accident.
In the meantime, the CAAKZ has suspended Bek Air's Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) along with the Certificates of Airworthiness (COA) for its nine remaining Fokker Aircraft. UP-F1007's own COA was issued on May 22, 2019, and was valid through May 21, 2020.
Bek Air has acknowledged the accident but declined to comment any further.
Founded as Berkut Air (Almaty International) in 1999, Bek Air specializes in scheduled domestic Kazakh passenger services as well as ACMI/charter operations.
