Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau. Photo / Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry via AFP
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau. Photo / Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry via AFP
Officials from several countries have called for investigations into the incident.
An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day was downed by a Russian air defence system, a preliminary investigation has found, according to reports.
The Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, killing 38 of the 67 peopleon board.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijani government sources have said that the plane was attacked by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system on its approach to Grozny, according to AnewZ, an Azerbaijani news site.
Russian, Azerbaijani, Nato and Kazakh officials have all called for investigations into the crash. Photo / Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry via AFP
The outlet also reported that the aircraft’s communication system was “completely paralysed”, causing it to disappear from radars in Russia’s airspace.
It only reappeared as it flew over the Caspian Sea shortly before crashing.
Four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation also told the Reuters news agency that the plane was downed by a Russian air defence system, corroborating AnewZ’s report.
Russian, Azerbaijani, Nato and Kazakh officials have all called for investigations into the crash.
The plane took a detour of hundreds of kilometres in the wrong direction and crash-landed with holes in the fuselage, according to footage circulation online.
Officials did not immediately explain that the plane had crossed the Caspian Sea, but it is understood that the plane was attempting to land at a Russian airport in Grozny, which at the time of landing was under attack by Ukrainian drones.
Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defence system”.
Osprey provides analysis for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their flights during the war.
Andrew Nicholson, the chief executive of Osprey, said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defence systems in Russia during the war.
Nicholson said: “This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do.
“It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”
Baza, a Telegram channel with links to the Russian security services, said “the holes look like those left after a shelling or explosion with striking elements”.
Rybar, an influential Telegram channel with 1.3 million subscribers, also confirmed Baza’s description in a post, saying that the damage to the fuselage resembles “striking elements of an anti-aircraft missile”.
The post continued: “The plane itself was heading to Grozny – at that time, a raid by launched Ukrainian UAVs was actually being repelled over the region. Several drones were shot down over Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia and neighbouring Ingushetia.”
Officials in Russia and Kazakhstan both sought to downplay suggestions that Russia was responsible.
Maulen Ashimbayev, the speaker of the Kazakh senate, condemned “speculation” about what happened. He said it was “not possible” to say what may have damaged the plane, according to Russian news agency Tass.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said: “We need to await the end of the investigation.”
But Yury Podolyaka, a Russian military expert, said holes seen in the wreckage of the plane were similar to the damage caused by an “anti-aircraft missile system”.
He said: “Everything points to that.”
Gerard Legauffre, a former expert at France’s BEA air accident investigation agency, also said there appeared to be “a lot of shrapnel” damage on the wreckage.
He said the damage was “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was downed with a surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before withdrawing the statement.
Eleven of the injured are in intensive care, the Kazakh Health Ministry said.
Azertac, an Azerbaijan state news agency, reported that 12 of the survivors were being flown to Azerbaijan.
A plane carrying nine injured Russian nationals, including a child, also arrived at Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region on Thursday, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said.
Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President, declared Thursday a day of mourning and cancelled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of former Soviet nations.
Aliyev’s office said the President “ordered the prompt initiation of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster”.
The President said in a social media post on Wednesday: “I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the crash ... and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
The Flight Radar website showed the plane deviating from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the sea.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the plane “made an emergency landing” around 3km from Aktau.
Kazakhstan said the plane was carrying 37 Azerbaijani passengers, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyz and 16 Russians.
Witness: ‘They were covered in blood’
A Kazakh woman told the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that she was near where the plane crashed and rushed to the site to help survivors.
The woman, who gave her name as Elmira, said: “They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help.”
She added: “I’ll never forget their look, full of pain and despair. A girl pleaded: ‘Save my mother, my mother is back there’.”
She said that they saved some teenagers.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, held a phone conversation with Aliyev and “expressed his condolences in connection with the crash”, Peskov told a news conference.
A Russian emergency situations ministry plane was sent to Aktau on Wednesday with medical personnel and other equipment.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, also called his Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Russian counterparts to send his “deep condolences”, according to CCTV.
