An Azerbaijani minister indicated on Friday that the plane that crashed this week was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimonies that indicate that the plane was hit from the outside.
Rashad Nabiyev’s statement led to increased pressure on Russia. Officials in Moscow said a drone attack was taking place in the area where the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was headed, but they did not address statements by aviation experts who blamed the incident on Russian air defenses that responded to a Ukrainian attack.
The plane was on its way from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, on Wednesday, when it headed towards Kazakhstan and crashed while trying to land there. The accident killed 38 people and injured all 29 survivors.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport, told Azerbaijani media that “the preliminary conclusions reached by experts point to external influence,” as does witness testimony.
Nabiyev said: “The type of weapon used in the collision will be determined during the investigation.”
Passengers and crew members who survived the accident told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on board the plane as it was flying over Grozny.
After one noise, the oxygen masks were automatically released, flight attendant Aidan Rahimli said. She said that she went to provide first aid to her colleague Zulfikar Asadov, and then they heard the sound of another explosion.
Asadov said the sounds sounded like they were hitting the plane from outside. He denied claims by Kazakh officials that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane.
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Dmitry Yadrov, head of the Russian Civil Aviation Authority “Rozavyatsia”, said on Friday that while the plane was preparing to land in Grozny amid heavy fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting the authorities to close the area to air traffic.
An Azerbaijani passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing at least 38 people
Yadrov said that after the captain made two failed attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau in Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea.
But he did not comment on the statements of some aviation experts, who indicated that the holes seen in the tail of the plane indicate that it may have been exposed to fire from Russian air defense systems.
Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny and other regions in the North Caucasus of the country.
Azerbaijan Airlines blamed the incident on unspecified “material and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. He did not say where the interference came from or provide any other details.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on allegations that the plane was hit by Russian air defenses, saying it was up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
“The air accident is being investigated, and we do not believe that we have the right to make any assessments until conclusions are reached as a result of the investigation,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
If it is proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian air defences, it would be the second fatal civil aviation accident linked to the fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people on board, while flying over the region of eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.
Russia denied responsibility, but in 2022 a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Russian Ukrainian man for their role in shooting down the plane with an air defense system brought to Ukraine from a Russian military base.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as part of the investigation into the plane crash on Wednesday.
After suspending flights from Baku to Gruzi and Makhachkala on Wednesday, Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it would also stop services to eight other Russian cities.
The company will continue to operate flights to six Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. These cities have also been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in the past.
The Kazakh Air company, Qazak Air, also announced on Friday the suspension of its flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.
Flydubai also suspended its flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia during the next few days.
The previous day, the Israeli airline El Al suspended its flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow due to “developments in Russian airspace.” The airline said it would re-evaluate the situation next week.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
