Russian military bloggers have suggested the plane could have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.
Russian military bloggers have suggested the plane could have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash on Christmas Day has prompted speculation the plane was shot down by Russia after it took a detour of hundreds of kilometres in the wrong direction and crash-landed with holes in the fuselage.
Russian military bloggers have suggested the plane, which crashed nearthe Kazakhstan city of Aktau, could have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.
The incident, which killed at least 38 people and injured a further 29, took place after a significant detour, which could have been caused by GPS jamming.
The Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing 3km from Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, today NZT.
Russian military bloggers have suggested the plane could have been mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.
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It was flying from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in the north Caucasus.
Footage of the crash, circling online, showed the plane making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball.
Other footage showed that part of its fuselage was ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft was upside down in the grass.
Russian military bloggers and some aviation analysts have suggested holes in the fuselage of the craft may have been caused by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft missile.
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25. Photo / Kazakhstan's emergency situations ministry via AFP
The crew on the aircraft reported a collision in the air before the plane began its emergency landing, which the Russian aviation authorities initially suspected to have been caused by a flock of birds.
However, it was later revealed that one of the plane’s oxygen tanks had exploded, prompting speculation that the collision was actually an encounter with Russian air defences.
President Vladimir Putin’s forces have militarised the area the plane was flying over, and it was on a detour that had not been planned by the airline.
The plane was attempting to land at a Russian airport in Grozny, which at the time of landing was under attack by Ukrainian drones.
Rybar, an influential Telegram channel with 1.3 million subscribers, says the damage to the fuselage resembles “striking elements of an anti-aircraft missile”. Photo / AFP
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, saying the damage to the fuselage resembles “striking elements of an anti-aircraft missile”.
“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.”
Following the crash, Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, said he was returning home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit, Russia’s RIA news agency reported.
Putin expressed his deep sympathies to Aliyev, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev was forced to leave St Petersburg. Putin has already called him and expressed his condolences in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Aktau,” Peskov said.
“We deeply sympathise with those who lost their relatives and friends in this plane crash and wish a speedy recovery to all those who managed to survive,” he added.
