Appeal Court Upholds Verdict for Pilots in Fatal 2019 Bek Air Crash

An appellate court in Almaty has upheld the guilty verdict against the pilots of the Bek Air flight that crashed shortly after takeoff in December 2019, a disaster that claimed 12 lives.

The crash involved a Fokker 100 aircraft operating a flight from Almaty to Astana on December 27, 2019. Shortly after departure, the plane lost altitude, struck a fence, and collided with a two-story cottage near the airport. There were 93 passengers and five crew members on board.

The aircraft's commander, 58-year-old Marat Muratbayev, died at the crash site. The first officer, 54-year-old Mirzhan Muldakulov, was hospitalized and discharged in stable condition on January 21, 2020, but passed away one week later.

Both pilots were posthumously charged under Part 3 of Article 344 of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code for violating air traffic safety rules resulting in the negligent death of two or more persons.

In November 2025, the Turksib District Court found Marat Muratbayev and Mirzhan Muldakulov guilty. No punishment was assigned due to their deaths. The court also ruled that the state would cover procedural costs of 1.7 million tenge. A freeze on Bek Air's assets remains in effect pending civil lawsuits totaling 4.8 billion tenge.

The defense team appealed the verdict, seeking acquittal for the pilots. They also requested separate rulings to initiate a pre-trial investigation into allegations that Muldakulov was tortured and to legally assess the actions of officials from Almaty International Airport JSC.

The Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Almaty City Court found no grounds to alter the initial verdict and left it unchanged. The requests concerning a torture investigation were also denied.

The appellate ruling takes effect immediately but can be appealed to a cassation court within one year.

This is not the only legal proceeding related to the crash. In May 2021, several local officials from the Talgar district and a realtor were convicted for illegally selling land in Guldala village, located near where the plane crashed. They received various prison sentences.

In June 2022, several former officials from the Talgar district akimat (administration) were convicted for unlawfully appropriating and selling land near Almaty Airport between 2017 and 2019.