"External Interference" Caused Azerbaijan Airlines' Plane Crash in Kazakhstan

Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 plane departed Baku for Grozny, in Chechnya, Russia, on Christmas.

According to Azerbaijan Airlines, "external physical and technical interference" caused the airliner's plane to crash in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 passengers on board.

Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 plane departed Baku for Grozny, in Chechnya, Russia, on Christmas. After being "denied landing due to fog" at Grozny, the plane was diverted far out the Caspian Sea and crashed in the Kazakh city of Aktau, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors.

Reporters revealed a day later that the aircraft may have been struck by a Russian surface-to-air missile, which caused it to limp out of the Caspian Sea before landing in an open field. The Kremlin has denied and "warned against" the claim that the missile "accidentally fired" on the airplane, according to reports.

Although the inquiry is still ongoing, the pro-government Azerbaijani website Caliber said, citing anonymous officials, that the plane was brought down by a missile from a Pantsir-S air defense system.

According to military and aviation specialists in international media publications like the Wall Street Journal, Euronews, and AFP, videos taken at the scene of the accident revealed holes in the aircraft's nose as well as damage from shrapnel from the missiles.

Flying from Baku to Grozny, a city in Russia's Chechnya that has been targeted by Ukrainian drones and is heavily fortified by anti-aircraft weapons such surface-to-air missiles, is Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243.

FlightRadar24, an online flight tracking company, had reported that the aircraft had severe GPS jamming, but it could not provide an explanation. For an hour, the aircraft battled to stay in the air; its vertical speed data graph showed a constant altitude followed by abrupt height variations and a descent.

Citing possible flight safety hazards, Azerbaijan Airlines declared on Friday that it will halt flights to a number of Russian airports.

A Passenger's Account

As it got closer to Grozny, a traveler told Reuters that there was at least one big blast. One of the passengers, Subhonkul Rakhimov, told Reuters from the hospital, "I thought the plane was going to fall apart," adding that after hearing the bang, he had started to recite prayers and get ready for the end.

Rakhimov claimed that the plane had behaved abnormally, as though intoxicated, after the huge noise. "It was as if it was drunk - not the same plane anymore," he stated.

Russia's Reaction

Reuters reported, citing four sources, that Russian air defenses had accidentally shot it down, despite Russia's claims that the probe is still ongoing.

The plane's captain was given the option of landing at other airports, but he decided for Kazakhstan's Aktau, according to Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation watchdog, Reuters claimed.

The aircraft's damage was similar to that of Malaysian Airlines MH17, which was shot down in 2014 while flying over Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed forces using a Buk 9M38 surface-to-air missile.