Flight 981, which was travelling from Dubai to Russia, crashed at Rostov-on-Don airport on Saturday morning at 3:50 a.m. local time.
Details are slowly emerging surrounding the accident, which took the lives of 62 people.
The following is a timeline of events surrounding the accident:
2:20 p.m. ET
Flight 981 departs from Dubai International Airport for Rostov-on-Don.
The flight, which was due to arrive in Russia at 1:40 a.m. local time, was transporting 55 passengers along with seven crew members.
6:43 p.m. ET
Flight 981 attempts first landing at Rostov-on-Don. It was unable to succeed and ascends into holding pattern.
In between the first and second attempt, which was nearly two hours later, a second plane would make three attempts before diverting to another airport.
8:28 p.m. ET
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Flight 981 begins second attempted landing.
Winds were anywhere from 14-to-22 meters per second (30-50 miles per hour) at the time of the crash and there was light rain.
8:50 p.m. ET
Plane crashes just metres short of the runway and explodes.
Officials said the plane and bodies of the victims were torn into small pieces by the powerful blast.
WATCH: Surveillance video catches passenger jet crashing in Russia killing 62 people on board
5:55 a.m. ET
Despite massive amounts of damage to the plane after the heavy explosion, investigators quickly find both of the flight recorders.
9:55 a.m. ET
The investigation into the accident continues as Ghaith al-Ghaith issues a statement which says both pilots were “quite experienced.”
The statement also points out that the plane was built in 2011 and had a detailed inspection in Jordan in January.
FlyDubai has deployed a team to the site of the crash, and Emirati civil aviation investigators are also on their way.
Russian state-run news agency Sputnik is reporting that investigators are considering three main possibilities to explain the crash: crew error, technical failure or bad weather.
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