Video shows plane's tragic nose dive in Russia

KAZAN, Russia -- A Boeing airliner crash was caught on video Sunday, showing the plane perpendicular as it crashed nose first into the ground.

Fifty people -- 44 passengers and six crew members -- died as the plane exploded into a fireball.  See the video above.

The crash occurred Sunday evening in Kazan, Russia. The city is the capital of the Tatarstan republic, and as the Los Angeles Times' Sergei Loiko reported from Russia, among the dead was the son of the president of the republic.

The plane was coming from Moscow and had been making its second attempt to land, the Associated Press reports. Investigators were combing the wreckage on Monday, looking for signs of equipment failure or pilot error. Before making the second, fatal attempt to land, the crew told a Kazan airport air traffic controller that they weren't ready for landing but did not say what the problem was.

The video was captured by an airport security camera.

Russia has been known for its poor aviation safety record. A report earlier this year showed strides had been made to improve that record, with six fatal accidents in 2012, four fewer than in 2011. Fifty-eight people died in plane crashes in Russia in 2012, down from 119 in 2011. 

Usually, the crashes have involved Russian-built aircraft. But Sunday's crash involved the U.S.-manufactured Boeing 737. As Loiko reported, it is considered one of the most reliable flown in Russia.

FROM LA TIMES