The Azerbaijan Airlines airliner was flying between the country's capital Baku and Grozny in Chechnya with 67 people on board. For reasons still unknown, the plane deviated from its initial trajectory and crashed more than 400 kilometers from its destination. The number of victims is also uncertain.
A crash with still very mysterious causes. An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed this Wednesday, December 25 in western Kazakhstan, with 67 people on board. At least 32 people survived.
• A crash more than 400 kilometers from the initial destination
The aircraft, an Embraer 190, was flying between Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and Grozny, capital of the Russian Caucasian republic of Chechnya, further north, according to Azerbaijan Airlines. But this Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 did not follow its original trajectory, according to flight tracking tool FlightRadar.
The plane first, as planned, skirted the west coast before its trajectory was no longer recorded. It then reappeared on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, opposite Azerbaijan and Russia, near the town of Aktau.
After circling near the airport of this city in Kazakhstan for “an emergency landing”, it crashed. A crash which took place 433 km from the initial destination, according to the Russian aviation monitoring body.
“The plane was exposed to jamming and GPS spoofing near Grozny,” says FlightRadar on X. “The plane had difficulty maintaining altitude for more than an hour.”
In videos published by Russian media, we see the plane hit the ground, a gigantic fire immediately breaking out. Other images show the plane on the ground, partially charred, the front of the aircraft having been completely destroyed.
After the crash, “the plane caught fire”, said the Kazakh Ministry of Emergency Situations, specifying that it had dispatched 150 rescuers to the scene.
• At least 32 survivors
According to Azerbaijan Airlines, 62 passengers and five crew members were on board the plane. “According to initial information, there were 37 Azerbaijani nationals, six Kazakh nationals, three Kyrgyz citizens and 16 Russian citizens” on board the aircraft, said the Kazakh Ministry of Transport.
The Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office announces that 32 people survived the crash. The survivors, including two children, are being treated in a nearby hospital, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. We do not yet know how many victims there are.
However, Azerbaijan Airlines offered its condolences on X “to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew members who lost their lives in the plane crash.”
Just like Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev. “I offer my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this crash (…) and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Ilham Aliev said in a message on social networks. He also ordered to take “urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster”, according to the press service of the Azerbaijani presidency.
Arriving in Russia to participate on Wednesday in an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) near Saint Petersburg (northwest) with Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliev decided to interrupt his visit and return urgently in Azerbaijan, according to the press service of the Azerbaijani presidency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, according to the Kremlin.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov assured him, on Telegram, “pray to God for the healing” of the injured. Some of those being treated at the hospital are in extremely serious condition, he said in a statement.
• “All possible scenarios”
The origins of the crash are not immediately known. An investigation was opened by the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office. Kazakhstan will cooperate with Azerbaijan in the investigation, the government said.
“We cannot disclose the results of the investigation at the moment. All possible scenarios are being examined, and the necessary expertise is underway,” he stressed, specifying that a team of Azerbaijani investigators is has gone to Kazakhstan and is “working on site”.
For its part, the Kazakh Interior Ministry announced the opening of an investigation for “violation of air transport safety and operational rules”.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially claimed that the plane had hit a flock of birds, before withdrawing this information.
For its part, the regional department of the Kazakh Ministry of Health reported, in a press release, a “balloon explosion” on board the aircraft, without further details.
Reuters points out that the crash occurred shortly after drone strikes in southwest Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Juliette Brossault with AFP
