What we know about the Azerbaijan Airlines crash

On December 25, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that was scheduled to land in Russia crashed in Kazakhstan.

The circumstances of the crash remain unclear, but so far there is limited evidence that the plane may have been damaged by missiles fired by a Russian air defense system as it attempted to land in Chechnya.

Here’s what we know about flight J2-8243.

Early on the morning of Christmas Day, flight J2-8243 took off from Baku Airport, the capital of Azerbaijan. It was supposed to land in Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya.

There were 67 passengers on board, most of whom were Azerbaijani nationals as well as those from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The aircraft was an Embraer 190 belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines.

As the flight approached Grozny, it entered thick fog, surviving passengers say.

They describe how the pilot attempted to land the plane twice under these conditions.

On the third attempt, survivors say they felt a series of explosions hit the plane.

“The third time something exploded… part of the plane’s skin had burst out,” one told Russian television.

A flight attendant on the plane, Zulfuqar Asadov, told local media that the impact of the strike had “caused panic inside.”

“We tried to reassure the passengers and give them a seat. At that moment there was another strike and my arm was injured,” he said.

A video filmed by a passenger during the flight showed oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

Azerbaijani Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said: “All (the survivors) without exception reported hearing three sounds of explosions when the plane was over Grozny.”

He said the plane was subject to “external interference” and was damaged inside and out while attempting to land.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has used drone strikes to attack Chechnya and other parts of the Russian Caucasus.

After the crash, Moscow authorities said such attacks had triggered a protocol to close airspace over Grozny.

A drone was shot down by air defense over a shopping center in Vladikavkaz in nearby North Ossetia this morning, according to local officials.

It is unclear whether the closed airspace protocol – known as the “carpet plan” – was issued before or during flight J2-8243 in Russian airspace.

After the incident over Grozny, the aircraft was diverted approximately 450 km (280 miles) east to Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan.

It remains unclear why the diversion was made via the Caspian Sea – a far longer journey than several other options.

Russian aviation authorities claimed the plane’s pilots were “offered other airports” but chose Aktau.

Data published by flight tracking website Flight Radar shows that the plane zigzagged up and down as it approached Aktau before turning and crashing just a few kilometers from the airport.

Video from near the scene shows the plane rapidly plummeting through the air before crashing to the ground and skidding several hundred meters in a ball of flames.

38 people died and 29 survived, some with serious injuries. Remarkably, some survivors could be seen running and crawling out of the wreckage of the plane.

The plane’s pilots are credited with saving lives by managing to land part of the plane, although they died in the crash.

It is believed that most of the survivors were seated in the back.

Initial reports from Russian media suggested that the plane collided with a flock of birds.

However, aviation experts and others in Azerbaijan believe the plane’s GPS systems were compromised by electronic interference and the plane was subsequently damaged by shrapnel from Russian anti-aircraft missiles.

On Friday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the U.S. had “early indications” that Russia was responsible, but declined to comment further.

So far, the Azerbaijani government has avoided directly blaming Russia – but Azerbaijani government sources told Reuters that the investigation had already established that the weapon fired on the flight was the Russian Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system act.

The Kremlin has so far refused to comment on reports that the plane was hit by Russian weapons.

“An investigation … is underway and until conclusions are drawn from the investigation, we do not consider ourselves entitled to make an assessment,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The plane’s flight recorders, which contain data to determine the cause of the crash, have been found.

According to reports in Baku, both Russia and Kazakhstan have suggested that a committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – a Russian-dominated regional organization – investigate the crash. However, Azerbaijan called for an international investigation instead.

Azerbaijan Airlines and several other airlines have suspended flights to some Russian cities in response to the crash.