Kazakhstan to reopen investigation into 2019 Bek Air plane crash

Tengrinews.kz – Authorities in Kazakhstan will reopen the investigation into the Bek Air plane crash that occurred in late 2019, Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev announced during a government press briefing.

"Unfortunately, in aviation, such incidents are often very complex, and it takes a long time to reach a final conclusion. The investigation is being reinitiated, and preparatory work is still underway," Sauranbayev said.

The move follows earlier remarks made in December 2024 by former Transport Minister Marat Karabayev, who suggested the case might be reopened.

The Bek Air crash happened on December 27, 2019, shortly after takeoff from Almaty to Astana (then still called Nur-Sultan). The Fokker 100 aircraft lost altitude moments after departure, broke through a fence, and collided with a two-story house near the airport. There were 93 passengers and five crew members on board; 12 people were killed in the crash.

A reconstruction of the accident showed that the aircraft had briefly lifted off before banking to one side. The pilot attempted an emergency landing but was unable to deploy the landing gear. At the time of impact, the plane was traveling at a speed of 70 knots—about 126 kilometers per hour.

In May 2021, several Talgar District officials and a realtor were convicted for illegally selling land in the Guldala settlement near the airport, where the crash occurred. In June 2022, additional former local government officials were sentenced for the unlawful sale and allocation of land near Almaty International Airport between 2017 and 2019.

The reopened investigation is expected to re-examine these issues as part of a broader effort to determine the full scope of responsibility.