Azerbaijan observed a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and injured all 29 survivors, as speculation mounted about the possible cause of the disaster that remained unknown.
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it diverted for as-yet-unexplained reasons and attempted to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east. Time it crashed. Caspian Sea.
The plane went down about 3 kilometers away from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulated online showed the plane descending rapidly before falling to the ground in a ball of fire. Other footage showed a portion of the plane’s fuselage separated from the wings and the rest of the plane lying upside down in the grass.
On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic was stopped across the country at noon, and signals were rung from ships and trains as the country observed nationwide silence.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it was too early to speculate about the reasons behind the crash, but said weather had forced the plane to divert from its planned route.
“The information given to me is that due to bad weather the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny and headed towards Aktau airport, where it crashed while landing,” he said.
Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s civil aviation authority, said preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted the plane to Aktau after an emergency situation occurred following a bird strike.
According to Kazakh officials, those on board the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstani citizens. Russia’s emergency ministry on Thursday flew nine Russian survivors to Moscow for treatment.
As the official crash investigation began, theories began to emerge about the possible cause, with some commentators alleging that the holes seen in the rear of the plane possibly indicated that it had evaded Russian air defense systems to avoid a Ukrainian drone attack. May catch fire.
Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other areas in the country’s North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya occurred on Wednesday, although this has not been officially confirmed.
Osprey Flight Solutions, a United Kingdom-based aviation security firm, warned its customers that “the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.” Osprey also provides analysis for carriers flying into Russia after Western airlines stopped their flights during the war.
Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote online. “It is tragic to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”
Asked about claims that the plane was fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to speculate before the investigators have issued their verdict.”
Kazakhstan’s parliamentary speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against drawing conclusions based on photographs of aircraft fragments, calling allegations of air defense shooting down baseless and “immoral”.
Other officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on the possible cause of the crash, saying it would be up to investigators to determine it.