You're reading: Azarov says lessons of plane crash in Donetsk obvious, conclusions will be drawn

The Ukrainian government plans to take measures to tighten aviation safety, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said.

“I have to mention a sad event – the crash of an An-24 plane at Donetsk Airport. Investigators have yet to determine the causes of the accident, but it’s clear for us that we need to make significant efforts in this sphere to ensure that air transportation is safe,” he wrote on his page on Facebook, while communicating with users on Friday, February 15.

Azarov noted that the lessons of this tragedy were obvious and that the necessary conclusions would be drawn.

As reported, the An-24 aircraft of South Airlines on flight from Odesa to Donetsk made an emergency landing at Donetsk Sergey Prokofiev International Airport at 1824 on February 13. During the landing the aircraft hit a weather tower, the right wing grazed the ground, and then it overturned and its fuselage broke.

A total of 52 people were on board the aircraft, including eight crewmembers. Five people were killed, and nine were hospitalized.

It was a charter flight, and all the passengers were football fans heading for Donetsk to watch Shakhtar Donetsk play Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16.