Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38 – but 29 survive
The flight was bound for Russia’s Chechnya region but diverted and appeared to have control problems
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An international investigation has begun into how an Embraer 190 passenger jet with 67 people onboard crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people but leaving 29 survivors
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243, which had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia‘s Chechnya, crash-landed instead at Aktau airport.
Unverified video footage of the crash showed the aircraft descending – apparently with control problems – and hitting the ground where it burst into flames.
Children were among the survivors being treated at a nearby hospital, authorities said in a statement.
Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage.
Russia’s aviation watchdog a preliminary investigation indicated the pilot decided to change landing site after “a collision with birds”.
But Reuters news agency noted that the plane had diverted from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks.
The news agency quoted Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory, who also raised doubt over a bird strike.
“You can lose control of the plane, but you don’t fly wildly off course as a consequence,” he said.
However, Azeri president Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, and said bad weather in Grozny had forced the flight to divert.
Mr Aliyev said: “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.”
Commercial aviation-tracking websites monitored the flight as it flew north on its scheduled route along the west coast before it disappeared. It then reappeared on the east coast, where it circled near Aktau airport before crashing into the beach.
Kazakh officials said those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Five of the 67 were crew.
Transport prosecutor, Timur Suleimenov, told a briefing that the plane’s black box, which contains flight data to help determine the cause of a crash, had been found, Interfax reported.
President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences, while Mr Aliyev decided to return home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit.
“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev was forced to leave St Petersburg [where he had a summit]. Putin has already called him and expressed his condolences in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Aktau,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry 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.”
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, expressed his condolences in a statement and said some of those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their recovery.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. Embraer said in a statement it is “ready to assist all relevant authorities”.
Azerbaijan Airlines suspended all its flights from Baku to Russia's Chechnya until the investigation is finished, Russia’s state TASS news agency reported.
Additional reporting by agencies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments