The plane concerned within the Christmas Day aircraft crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 individuals skilled “external physical and technical interference”, in accordance with preliminary outcomes of an investigation, Azerbaijan Airways stated on Friday.
The early findings led the provider to droop flights to 5 Russian airports, citing “potential risks to flight safety”, including to the 2 routes that have been suspended instantly after the crash.
The aircraft was flying from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to the Russian metropolis of Grozny in Chechnya when it crashed in a area close to Aktau in Kazakhstan, a whole bunch of miles off its deliberate route. Twenty-nine individuals survived.
On Friday, the top of Russia’s civil aviation company stated that the plane had tried to land in Grozny because the area was below assault by Ukrainian drones.
“Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure … at the time,” Dmitry Yadrov stated on Telegram, including that the aircraft had made two unsuccessful makes an attempt to land.
On the time there was additionally heavy fog over Grozny, he stated. He described the circumstances as “very complicated”. He added: “The pilot was offered alternative airports. He took the decision to go to Aktau airport.”
As hospitals scrambled to deal with the handfuls of injured passengers and Azerbaijan mourned those that misplaced their lives, hypothesis has swirled about the reason for the crash. A US official stated on Thursday that there have been early indications {that a} Russian anti-aircraft system could have struck the aircraft, echoing claims by Ukrainian officers and sources in Azerbaijan.
On Friday, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, declined to touch upon the claims. “The air incident is being investigated and we don’t believe we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation,” he advised reporters.
Photographs of the crash appeared to indicate the aircraft plummeting to the bottom the place it burst into flames on impression, giving rise to thick, black plumes of smoke.
A passenger on the aircraft advised Reuters that he had heard not less than one loud bang because the plane approached Russia’s southern Chechnya area. “I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Subhonkul Rakhimov stated. “It was as if it was drunk – not the same plane any more.”
Rakhimov additionally spoke to the Russian state broadcaster, RT, and stated it appeared as if the explosion had taken place outdoors the aircraft, and shrapnel had punctured the physique of the plane.
“I grabbed a lifejacket and saw there was a hole in it – it was pierced by shrapnel,” he stated. “Somewhere between my legs this piece of shrapnel flew in and went right through the lifejacket.”
In current weeks, Ukrainian drones have focused a number of websites in Chechnya, together with a facility housing native police forces.
On Wednesday morning – the identical day because the crash – Khamzat Kadyrov, a neighborhood safety official and nephew of the Chechen chief, Ramzan Kadyrov, wrote on Instagram that “all drones were successfully shot down”.
The crash led different airways to droop flights by means of the area; Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air stated it might halt flights from Astana to the Russian metropolis of Ekaterinburg within the Ural Mountains for one month, whereas the finances provider flydubai suspended flights to the southern Russian airports of Sochi and Mineralnye Vody. Israel’s El Al additionally stated it might droop flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow for one week, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace”.
Hours later, a supply in Azerbaijan advised Reuters that early findings urged that the aircraft had been mistakenly downed by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. One Azerbaijani lawmaker, Rasim Musabekov, known as on Russia to formally apologise.
“They have to accept this, punish those to blame, promise that such a thing will not happen again, express regrets and readiness to pay compensation,” Musabekov advised the information company AFP. “We are waiting for Russia to do this.”
He stated the aircraft “was damaged in the sky over Grozny and asked to make an emergency landing”, describing it as a regular request.
He alleged that the aircraft was not allowed to land at Grozny or close by Russian airports and was as an alternative “sent far away” throughout the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan with the “GPS switched off”, Musabekov stated.
If air defences have been working close to Grozny airport, “they should have closed the airspace. The plane should have been turned around as it approached Grozny. Why wasn’t this done?” he added.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Related Press contributed to this report
