news update
A little update from German news reports: The passenger injured in the Almaty crash, Lars Windhorst, was released from hospital on Jan 3. A day later, investment firm Vatas, for which Windhorst acts as managing director, annouced it had acquired a 15 percent share of Air Berlin.
An interesting side note: News reports said that the first officer killed in the crash was a police officer from Berlin, piloting was his second job. Further reports claim that he was on a prolonged leave from his police job due to health issues. A spokesman for the jet charter company stated that the first officer, who was relatively new to this type of aircraft, had all the necessary paperwork including health checks.