In Kazakhstan, these questions that the second black box of the crash will have to answer

INTERNATIONAL – Still many questions, some hypotheses but no definitive answer. The discovery of a second black box from the Azerbaijan Airlines plane whose crash killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Wednesday December 25 should make it possible to learn more about the circumstances of the tragedy.

As CNN reported this Friday, December 27, this second black box of the device was discovered two days after the fatal accident, attributed according to certain hypotheses to Russia. Analysis of the device's data should make it possible to eliminate or confirm the various theories raised in recent hours, at a time when Ukraine believes that Russia “must be held responsible”.

The airline Azerbaijan Airlines, however, put forward the idea this Friday that the plane crash was due to a “external, physical and technical interference”according to the preliminary results of the investigation.

· Was the Russian anti-aircraft defense at fault?

The Ukrainian accusations are based on this idea. Because the first information pointed to the responsibility of a Russian anti-aircraft defense system, as stated Thursday by an American official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Azerbaijan also believes a Russian missile was to blame for the crash, according to Azerbaijani and international media citing unnamed government sources. According to this version, the Embraer 190 aircraft was hit while approaching Grozny, and continued its flight towards Kazakhstan, where it finally crashed.

A version that Moscow refuses to comment on, citing “ the ongoing investigation » to remain silent. However, the Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia indicated this Friday that “ Ukrainian military drones carried out terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz » on the day of the crash, making the situation at Grozny airport “very difficult” that day. Enough to reinforce the idea of ​​a Russian maneuver, even accidental, to intercept possible drones from Ukrainian forces in this region.

· Birds or a balloon involved?

Initially, Azerbaijan Airlines claimed that the plane had hit a flock of birds, before withdrawing this information. A version taken up on the day of the crash by Rosaviatsia, before the Kremlin spokesperson was more cautious by indicating that he “ would be inappropriate to make assumptions before the conclusions of the investigation ».

Questioned by AFP, Jean-Paul Troadec, former director of the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), does not believe that birds are responsible, believing that bird impacts on the structure, “It doesn’t stop the plane from flying.”

For its part, the regional department of the Kazakh Ministry of Health reported “the explosion of a balloon” on board the device. Multiple theories, which are reminiscent of the tragedy of MH17, this Malaysia Airlines plane mysteriously destroyed above Ukraine in 2014, but whose explosion is attributed by Dutch justice to the firing of a missile Russian.

· Why did the plane change course?

This plane was flying on Wednesday between Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, and Grozny, capital of the Russian Caucasian republic of Chechnya. However, the aircraft crashed on the other side of the Caspian Sea, near the port of Aktau in western Kazakhstan, located far east of its initial destination.

The Russian civil aviation agency said on Wednesday that“due to an emergency situation on board the plane, its commander decided to go to another aerodrome”. “The captain made two attempts to land in Grozny, which failed. Other airports are proposed to him. He decides to go to Aktau airport »in Kazakhstan, also specified the head of the Russian agency.

CNN also cites Russian state media as saying the plane was diverted due to heavy fog in Grozny. Questions to which the second black box may perhaps provide answers. Because this change in trajectory, whatever the cause, presents itself as “a big unknown” in this affair, as Jean-Paul Troadec argues.

Furthermore, the Flightradar24 site indicated that the aircraft had suffered during its flight “significant GPS interference”. The plane has a time “stopped sending positioning data” then sent data “probably false”before the situation returns to normal, says the air flight tracking site.

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