Plane crash in Kazakhstan on 25 December was caused by Russian missile – Euronews
According to Euronews sources, the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny on 25 December was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile that exploded nearby.
Source: Euronews
Quote: "Sources in the Azerbaijani government confirmed in an exclusive statement to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile was the cause of the crash of an Azerbaijani Airlines plane in Aktau on Wednesday."
Detail: The sources noted that the missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone operations over Grozny, and missile fragments hit passengers and flight attendants when it exploded near the plane during flight.
Unnamed government officials said that the damaged plane was not allowed to land at any Russian airport, despite the pilots' request for an emergency landing. It was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.
According to available data, the aircraft's GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight over the sea.
Background:
- On 25 December, an Embraer aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau (the administrative centre of Kazakhstan's Mangistau Oblast). According to Azerbaijan Airlines, 67 people were on board, including five crew members. Of these, 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 were Russians, 6 were Kazakhs, and 3 were Kyrgyz.
- The KazAeroNavigation company believes that the crash was caused by a collision with a bird and a steering failure. Russian media outlets also do not rule out the possibility that the plane could have changed course due to the threat of a drone attack on Chechnya. Early reports indicate that Grozny was attacked by several UAVs at that moment, which led to the announcement of the Kovyor (Carpet) plan at the city's airport [A Kovyor plan is an airport operational safety procedure for airport services and personnel when an unidentified object appears in the sky – ed.].
- The crash killed 38 people, said Kanat Bozumbayev, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and head of the state commission leading the investigation into the causes of the crash.
- The Ukrainian Centre for Countering Disinformation said that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
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