An Azerbaijani airliner bound for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday after diverting, killing 38 of 67 people on board.
Here’s what’s known so far.
How did the plane crash?
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that are not yet entirely clear.
It crashed while attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east over the Caspian Sea.
At least 38 people were killed after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane en route to Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas morning, a Kazakh official said, adding that 29 others, including two children, survived the disaster. Investigators continue to work to determine the cause of the crash.
The plane crashed near the coast about three kilometers from Aktau. Cell phone footage shared online appeared to show the plane making a steep descent before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball.
Rescuers took the 29 people who survived the crash to hospitals.
How did Azerbaijan react?
Azerbaijan marked a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic across the country was suspended at noon, and signals from ships and trains sounded.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the weather had forced the plane to change its planned course.
What do officials and experts say about a possible cause?
Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities say they are investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company “stands ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Russia’s civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia said preliminary information suggested the pilots were diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
Some commentators claimed that holes in the plane’s tail section pictured after the crash may indicate that it may have been fired upon by Russian air defense systems that were repelling a Ukrainian drone attack.
Osprey Flight Solutions, a UK-based aviation security company, warned its customers that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air defense system.”
Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said the company issued more than 200 warnings about drone strikes and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
When asked Thursday about claims that the plane was fired upon by air defense forces, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It would be wrong to put forward hypotheses before investigators make their judgment.”
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan also avoided commenting on a possible cause of the crash, saying it was up to investigators to determine.
