Russian missile, birds or explosion: what versions of the plane crash are put forward by the media and the authorities?

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Of the exclusive information received by Euronews of a source within the Azerbaijani government concerning the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane were quickly taken up by the media and on social networks.

In particular, we reported that the accident was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile. According to our interlocutor, the missile was fired when drones were active in the sky over Grozny, where the AZAL flight from Baku was supposed to land. The fragments of the missile are said to have damaged the airliner and the passengers on it.

According to our source, the pilots requested an emergency landing, but were not allowed to land at one of the Russian airports and were forced to cross the Caspian Sea towards Aktau, Kazakhstan. The onboard navigation system was disabled for the duration of the flight.

Data on deaths and survivors varies. According to initial reports, between 28 and 32 people survived, while at least 38 were killed. Most of the survivors were seated in the tail of the plane.

What are the versions advanced by media and official sources of the three countries “concerned”: Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan?

Russia

The Kremlin believes that all reports on the causes of the airliner crash are hypotheses and calls for waiting for the end of the investigation.

“Every aviation incident must be investigated by specialist aviation authorities. And until the conclusions of the investigation, it would be wrong to speculate. We obviously cannot do that, and no one should “It is necessary to wait for the investigation to be completed,” Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Rosaviatsia, as well as Azerbaijan Airlines itself, believe that the cause of the accident was the plane’s collision with birds.

The plane was diverted from Grozny to Makhachkala, apparently due to fog, and from there had to fly to Aktau, Kazakhstan, due to an “emergency”.

And Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is cooperating with Azerbaijan to investigate the crash of the AZAL plane near Aktau, but has not received any official version of what happened from either Baku or Moscow. This was stated by Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, who heads the commission investigating the causes of the accident.

“Journalists’ speculation and research is based on certain government sources. We are in constant contact with our Azerbaijani colleagues. No one has sent us a version yet, we have not officially received any version from either Russia or Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is impossible to refute any version,” Bozumbayev said.

According to Orda.kz, the health department of Mangystau region in western Kazakhstan said an oxygen cylinder is believed to have exploded on board the plane after the plane collided with birds, and that the passengers then began to lose consciousness.

Orda.kz also drew attention to “shot impacts” on parts of the fuselage found on the ground, visible in photos after the crash. But the Kazakh authorities described this version as speculation and urged them to wait for the results of the investigation.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the causes of the AZAL plane crash are unknown and there are different versions.

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According to the information provided to him, the plane changed direction and headed towards Aktau due to deteriorating weather conditions.

After our publicationtwo Azerbaijani media outlets confirmed our information on the link between the airliner crash and a Russian missile, citing their sources within the Azerbaijani government.

AnewZ reports that the plane was attacked by a Russian Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system during its approach to the city of Grozny.

The publication calls the incident “unintentional”, but at the same time writes that “Baku expects the Russian side to admit to having shot down the Azerbaijani plane and to conduct a full investigation, which will allow bringing to justice all those responsible.

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Caliber.az also refers to its sources in the Azerbaijani cabinet and reports the involvement of Russian air defense in the incident.