Azerbaijan observes day of mourning following Kazakhstan plane ...
Azerbaijan observed a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of a plane crash in which 38 people were killed and all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about the possible cause of the incident.
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons not yet certain and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.
The plane went down about 3km from Aktau.
Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before crashing into the ground in a fireball.
Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings, and the rest of the plane lying upside down in the grass.
On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev said it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.
“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
According to Kazakh officials, those on board the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.
As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane’s tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defence systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country’s North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it was not officially confirmed.
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 with Ukraine.
Chief executive Andrew Nicholson said the company has issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defence systems in Russia during the war.
“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” he wrote online. “It is painful to know that, despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”
Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defence assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict”.
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it. – AP
