Plane crash probe in Kazakhstan underway as speculation mounts about cause
Revised on: December 26, 2024 / 8:32 AM EST / CBS/AP
Many people have lost their lives in a plane crash in Kazakhstan.
On Thursday, Azerbaijan held a national day of mourning for those who lost their lives in a plane crash that resulted in 38 fatalities and left 29 survivors injured. As this tragedy unfolded, discussions began to arise regarding the potential reasons behind the incident.
On Wednesday, an Embraer 190 belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines was traveling from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, a city in Russia's North Caucasus. However, the flight was rerouted for unknown reasons and ended up crashing while attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after crossing the Caspian Sea to the east.
The aircraft crashed around 2 miles from Aktau. Videos shared online seem to depict the plane descending sharply before it collided with the ground, erupting in flames. Additional clips revealed a section of the fuselage detached from the wings, with the rest of the plane overturned in the field.
On Thursday, flags were flown at half-mast all over Azerbaijan, vehicles came to a halt at noon, and ships and trains sounded their horns in honor of a nationwide moment of silence.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that it was premature to make assumptions about the cause of the crash. However, he noted that the weather conditions had compelled the aircraft to deviate from its intended route.
"I was informed that the aircraft altered its route while flying from Baku to Grozny because the weather was deteriorating and instead flew to Aktau airport, where it unfortunately crashed during landing," he mentioned.
Russia's aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, stated that initial reports suggest the pilots rerouted to Aktau following a bird strike that caused an emergency situation on the aircraft.
When the official investigation into the crash began, various theories emerged regarding the potential cause. Some analysts suggested that the holes observed in the tail section of the aircraft might suggest it had been targeted by Russian air defense systems in response to a Ukrainian drone attack.
Ukrainian drones had previously targeted Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic in Russia, along with other areas in the North Caucasus. Some Russian news outlets reported that there was a new drone strike in Chechnya on Wednesday, although this has not been officially verified.
Osprey Flight Solutions, a UK-based aviation security company, alerted its clients that there is a high probability that a Russian military air-defense system was responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines flight. Osprey offers insights for airlines that continue to operate in Russia, even after Western carriers suspended their flights due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Osprey's CEO, Andrew Nicholson, announced that the company has released over 200 notifications about drone assaults and air defense measures in Russia since the start of the conflict.
"This event serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of our work," Nicholson posted online. "It hurts to realize that, in spite of our best efforts, lives were lost in a preventable manner."
Russian military analyst Yury Podolyaka was quoted by Agence France-Presse, noting that the damage observed in the plane's debris resembles the impact of an "anti-aircraft missile system." He emphasized, "All evidence suggests that."
Gerard Legauffre, a former specialist with France's BEA agency for investigating air accidents, mentioned that the wreckage seemed to show significant damage from shrapnel, as reported by AFP.
He described it as "similar to" the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down by Russia-backed rebels using a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
When reporters inquired about the allegations that the aircraft was shot at by air defense systems, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, "It's premature to speculate before the investigators reach their conclusions."
Kazakhstan's parliamentary speaker, Maulen Ashimbayev, cautioned against jumping to conclusions based on images of the wreckage. He labeled the claims about air defense fire as baseless and "unethical."
Other officials from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have also refrained from discussing what might have led to the crash, stating that it's up to the investigators to find out.
