After traveling 450 miles from Moscow, a airline 737 jet carrying 44 passengers and six crew crashed as it was coming in for a landing at the Kazan airport in Tatarstan on Sunday evening.

The aircraft, owned by Tatarstan Airlines had previously tried to land the aircraft before pulling up and going around for a second attempt that ended in disaster. It is unknown why the aircraft aborted its first attempt at landing at the airport where weather conditions were reported as good.

Videos taken at the time of the crash, and aired on Russian television, show that the aircraft seemed to lose altitude quickly just before the crash where it burst into fiery fireball. Investigators have found both black boxes that were aboard the aircraft, but when found, they were badly damaged. It is unknown why the aircraft crashed at this time. Although local authorities reported that the aircraft reported technical problems shortly before it crashed on landing. Passengers on flight just prior to the crash report that at landing, the aircraft was shuddering and shaking violently in the moments before touching down.

The impact was so great and the aftermath so horrific that it may take weeks before the remains of the victims can be positively identified. Two of those aboard the aircraft, it was confirmed, were the local chief of Russia’s main security agency, Aleksandr Antonov, and the son of the provincial governor.

The aircraft, which ahs been in service for 23 years, has had many owners and has also been involved in two separate incidences since it took to the air. The aircraft entered service with its original owner Euralair in 1990, but was then sold to Air France in 1992, before being sold to Uganda Airlines in 1995. It was sold to Rio Sul five years later, who kept it for five years before selling it off to Romania’s Blue Air in 2005. Three years later, the aircraft was in the Bulgaria Air’s fleet of aircraft. But, just month later, the 737 was sold to Tatarstan Airlines in 2008.

The 737 has had two flight incidences since it took up its flight life. In 2001, the aircrafty experienced a hard landing at Belo Horizonte, Brazil during bad weather there. It suffered substantial landing gear damage in that event. No inuries were reported then. In 2012, the aircraft had to turn around and land shortly after takeoff after experiencing a loss of cabin pressure.

The recently financially troubled airlines has had a good safety record until this crash, but had suffered a strike by personnel in Spetember and it is also reported that the airlines had failed to pay aircraft servicing debts for their aircraft recently.

The fiery crash closed the airport through the night and into Monday.