Officials are trying to find out what caused this Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, which killed 38 people on board and left 29 survivors, as Speculation is mounting that Russia’s military could have played a role in the disaster.
Here’s what we know so far:
How did the plane crash?
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, an Embraer 190 aircraft, was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Russia’s North Caucasus region on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that are not yet fully understood.
It crashed while trying to reach another airport in Aktau, western Kazakhstan.
Cell phone footage appears to show the plane making a steep descent before hitting the ground about three kilometers from Aktau airport and exploding in a fireball.
Photos from the scene of the accident show the rear part of the plane’s fuselage, which was still intact after the crash and lying upside down in a field.
ISSA TAZHENBAYEV/AFP via Getty Images
According to the airline, 67 people were on board – 62 passengers and five crew members – and 38 people died in the crash, but 29 of the occupants survived.
Investigators have recovered the two so-called black boxes, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, from the crash site.
Why did the plane change course?
There were conflicting reports as to why the pilots diverted the plane.
Russia’s civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia initially said it appeared the pilots had been diverted to Aktau after a bird strike. Russian and Azerbaijani officials later suspected that the plane had been diverted in Grozny due to fog or bad weather. Then Russia also said Ukrainian drones targeting the Grozny area were a factor.
Murat Usubali/Anadolu via Getty Images
At a news conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that while it was too early to know the cause of the crash, bad weather forced the plane to deviate from its planned course.
“The information provided to me says that due to deteriorating weather conditions, the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny and flew to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.
Dmitry Yadrov, the head of Rosaviatsia, said on Friday that Ukrainian drones targeted the city as the plane prepared to land in Grozny in thick fog, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.
Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan over the Caspian Sea instead.
What do officials and aviation experts say about a possible cause?
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia have each launched investigations into the cause of the crash. The Kremlin pushed for it People not to jump to conclusions.
In a statement on Friday, December 27, Azerbaijan Airlines said the plane had been subjected to “external physical and technical interference,” but did not specify where it believed the interference came from or provide further details. It announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports.
A U.S. official told CBS News there were early indications that a Russian anti-aircraft system may have hit the plane in a region where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been firing drones and missiles for months. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said if proven true it would further underscore Russia’s ruthlessness in its actions Invasion of Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday that U.S. officials have seen “some early indications that certainly point to the possibility that this jet was shot down by Russian air defense systems.”
He confirmed to reporters that the U.S. has intelligence or information indicating that possibility, but said Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are currently investigating and the U.S. will “respect that process.”
Meiramgul Kussainova/Anadolu via Getty Images
Meanwhile, independent aviation experts cast doubt on the bird strike theory, with some pointing to damage to the plane’s fuselage as evidence it may have come under fire.
“It certainly doesn’t look like a flock of birds,” said Robert Sumwalt, a CBS News aviation safety analyst and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Birds do not fly at the altitude at which the original damage to this aircraft occurred,” Sumwalt added.
Yan Matveyev, an independent Russian military expert, noted that images of the crashed plane’s tail show damage consistent with fragments from small surface-to-air missiles such as the Pantsyr-S1 air defense system.
“It looks like the tail of the aircraft was damaged by some missile fragments,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on allegations of possible Russian involvement in the crash in a Dec. 27 conference call with reporters, saying it was up to investigators to determine the cause.
Survivors heard noises before the crash
Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media they heard loud noises inside the plane as it circled over Grozny.
Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said the oxygen masks released automatically after a noise. She said she went to give first aid to a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.
Press service of the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry via AP
Asadov said the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly after, he suffered a sudden injury, like a “deep wound, the arm was torn open, as if someone had hit me in the arm with an ax,” he said. He disputed Kazakh officials’ claim that an oxygen canister exploded on the plane.
Two other survivors reported hearing explosions before the plane crashed: Jerova Salihat told Azerbaijani television in an interview at the hospital that “something exploded” near her leg, and Vafa Shabanova said that “there were two explosions in the sky and an hour later.” Half an hour later the plane crashed to the ground.
Chris Livesay And
contributed to this report.
