Belavia Airlines Accident In Yerevan, 21 Injured

 A Belavia airlines plane has crashed and burst into flames shortly after taking off from Yerevan airport in Armenia with 21 passengers on board.

The jet, operated by the Belarussian airline Belavia, hit its left wing on the runway during takeoff and erupted into flames, the state civil aviation agency’s spokeswoman Gayan Davtian said.

There were no fatalities, but four people were taken to hospital with serious burns, a local official said. “Nearly everyone on board received burns of various degrees,” said Gayane Davtyan, a spokeswoman for Armenia’s civil aviation authority.

There were 18 passengers and three crew on flight 1834. The cause of the crash is still unknown.

Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport was temporarily closed after the crash, which took place at 4:15 am local time.

Belavia Belarusian Airlines is the national airline company of the Republic of Belarus. It is the flag carrier and state owned. Belavia is serving a network of routes between European cities and the CIS. Its main base is in Minsk International Airport. Its fleet consists of 2 Antonov AN23s, 2 Boeing 737-500s, 2 CRJ 200s, 3 Tupolev TU 134s and 7 TU 154s.

The CR 100 that was involved in the accident is leased by the airline and it was delivered in February 2008, so it was a new member of the fleet.

By Szafi