An Azerbaijani airliner carrying 67 people crashed in southwestern Kazakhstan, killing at least 38 of them on Wednesday.
Kanat Bozumbayev, the deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan, reported the rescue of 29 people, including 2 children, from the debris near Aktau. Bozumbayev added that 11 of those people were in a critical condition.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 made an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau while en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya.
The indications suggest that a Russian system struck Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 prior to its crash near the city of Aktau, according to a US official on Thursday, CNN said. It is possible that Russian air defense units mistook the commercial airliner for a long-range Ukrainian attack drone and fired on it, they added on Friday.
In a phone call with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Saturday, Putin apologized for the tragic incident that took place in Russian airspace. He admitted that Russian air defenses were operational at the time, but he refrained from admitting fault.
The plane was en route from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya. However, the plane had to make an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, situated in southwestern Kazakhstan on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea.
Officials did not immediately clarify the plane’s reason for crossing the Caspian Sea, which is located between Baku and Grozny to the west and Aktau to the east.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev said on Thursday that a signal from Russia approximately 45 minutes before the plane crash diverted the flight.
Karabayev said the crew chose to fly to Aktau in response to reports of adverse weather, and that the Russian dispatcher informed them that the plane’s control systems were malfunctioning. According to Karabayev, the dispatcher later stated that the passengers lost consciousness due to an explosion in the cabin’s oxygen tank.
The Kremlin said on Saturday that the plane kept trying to land at Grozny’s airport, but that Russian air defense systems were able to thwart Ukrainian combat drones from attacking the Grozny, Mozdok, and Vladikavkaz regions.
The aircraft deviated from its course and lost communication with dispatchers when it crashed, according to Karabayev, during the two landing approaches the crew made at Aktau airport.
After the crash, footage and photos of the plane reveal holes in its body that match shrapnel or debris wounds. We still don’t know what caused these holes.
Shrapnel damage is consistent with the holes on the side of the aircraft, according to the US official.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially attributed the incident to a collision with a flock of birds, according to state news agency AZERTAC.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency initially reported that the plane crashed due to a collision with birds.
Dmitry Yadrov, the head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, announced on Friday that dense fog and Ukrainian combat drones forced the plane to exit Grozny’s airspace.
Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia shortly preceded the crash.
