Azerbaijan Airlines says the initial results of an investigation into the crash of its plane in Kazakhstan on December 25th blame “physical and external interference”.
38 people died when the Embraer plane went down at high speed and burst into flames 3 kilometers from the Aktau airport runway.
The plane first attempted to land at Grozny airport in southern Russia, but witnesses reported an explosion before it was diverted across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan.
The head of Russia’s aviation federation said on Friday that the situation in the Chechen capital was “extremely difficult” and that a protocol had been put in place to close the skies.
“Ukraine warplanes have been launching attacks on the infrastructure of people living in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” said Dmitry Yadrov, the head of Rosaviatsia, in a video statement posted by the Russian news agency Tass.
“Because of this, a ‘Carpet plan’ was introduced in the area of Grozny airport, which provides for the immediate departure of all flights from a certain area,” he said. “In addition, there was dense fog in the area of Grozny airport.”
Azerbaijan Airlines did not explain the physical and technical interference, and the Baku government avoided directly blaming Russia, perhaps to avoid antagonizing President Vladimir Putin.
However, aviation experts and pro-government media in Azerbaijan believe the plane was damaged by a Russian air defense missile.
“These are pieces of missiles that damage the hydraulic system. Flight controls work based on hydraulics,” veteran Azerbaijani pilot Tahir Agaguliev told the BBC.
Flight attendant Zulfuqar Asadov, one of the 29 survivors of the crashed plane, told the media that the plane was “hit by some kind of external strike”.
“Its impact created panic inside. We tried to calm them down, so they would sit down. At that time, there was another strike, and I injured my arm.”
In a social media letter, Azerbaijan Airlines said it was suspending flights to seven Russian cities due to the accident “for safety reasons”.
It already had flights to Grozny and Makhachkala in neighboring Dagestan, but has now added the cities of Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara and Mineralnye Vody.
Israel’s prestigious airline, El Al, has currently suspended all flights to Moscow, citing developments in the Russian airspace.
The spokesperson of the president of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said that Russia must be responsible for this accident.
The Kremlin declined to comment on reports that an Azerbaijan Airlines flight was shot down by Russian air defenses.
“The investigation into this plane incident is ongoing and until the conclusion is reached as a result of the investigation, we do not feel that we have the right to investigate,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In Azerbaijan, there were vigils to honor the pilots who are credited with saving their lives by being able to land part of the plane, even though they died in the accident.
Kazakh authorities have been treating the injured and cooperating with Azerbaijan in the investigation. However, they refused to provide details of their investigation into the accident.
Reports in Baku suggest that Russia and Kazakhstan have proposed a committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – a regional body run by Russia – to investigate the crash, but Azerbaijan wants an international investigation rather than one involving former Soviet states. .
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