Kazakhstan plane crash: Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed that a plane crashed in Kazakhstan due to physical and technical deficiencies, killing 38 of the 67 passengers on board. According to Reuters report, Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 flight crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day.
A day after the incident, news came out that a Russian surface-to-air missile could have been the cause of the accident. A pro-government Azerbaijani website, citing unnamed officials, said a Pantsir-S air defense missile downed the plane. Video from the crash site showed damage from missile shrapnel on parts of the aircraft. However, the Kremlin has rejected this.
Abnormal behavior of aircraft
Online flight tracking website Flightradar24 reported that the plane faced GPS related problems during the flight. In addition, a sudden drop and fluctuation in the altitude of the aircraft was also recorded before the accident. Speaking to Reuters, a passenger said there was a loud explosion as they approached Grozny. Passenger Subhonkul Rakhimov said, “I thought the plane was going to break up. After the explosion, an unusual change in the behavior of the plane was seen.
Azerbaijan Airlines flights will remain closed from December 28
On this matter, Azerbaijan Airlines has said that until the investigation of the plane accident is completed, all flights going towards Russia will remain cancelled. According to the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Agency, “taking into account the preliminary results of the investigation of the accident of the Embraer 8243 aircraft operating Baku-Grozny flight J190-2 of Azerbaijan Airlines, flights from Baku to a number of airports in Russia will be suspended in December. Will remain closed from 28th.
The preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 plane, which was performing Baku-Grozny flight number J2-8243 of the Azerbaijan Airlines airline, as a result of physical and technical external interference, and the possible consequences for the safety of flights… pic.twitter.com/gEsg0UZZQv
— AZAL – Azerbaijan Airlines (@azalofficial) December 27, 2024
Also read: Did the plane crash happen because of Russia? Azerbaijan Airlines made a big disclosure
