The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, says that a criminal case has been opened to investigate the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed early Wednesday in Kazakhstan, killing at least 38 people.
ADVERTISINGChristmas morning it became hell for passengers of Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 that was heading from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to the city of Grozny, in Russia.
At least 38 of the people traveling on board the aircraft lost their lives when the device was trying to make an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau. Another 29 passengers survived the accident and were taken to nearby medical centers to be treated for their injuries.
The president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was traveling by plane at the time of the tragic accident. Aliyev was heading to St. Petersburg to attend an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent StatesCEI, organized by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Upon learning of the accident, Aliyev stated in an official statement released by the Azerbaijani Presidency: “When I was informed of this tragic event that occurred during the flight, I immediately I gave instructions for the plane I was traveling on to return to Baku. While it was still in the air, I gave the necessary directives and spoke to the prime minister of the country.”
Aliyev summoned his presidential cabinet to an emergency meeting upon his arrival in Baku. The Azerbaijani leader also instructed his government to create a commission in charge of investigating the accident.
“The commission’s task is to thoroughly investigate the matter, examine the causes of the accident and all its details, and provide information, both to me and to Azerbaijani citizens,” Aliyev stated.
The president of Azerbaijan states that the matter must be fully clarifiedalthough he did not offer details about what the country’s Government believes may be the cause of the tragic event.
“According to the information provided to me, the AZAL airliner, which was flying on the Baku-Grozny route, changed course due to worsening weather conditions and began heading towards Aktau airport, where the accident occurred. accident during landing maneuver. Videos of the plane crash are available in the media and on social networks, and everyone can see them. However, we still do not know the causes of the accident. There are several theories, but I think it is premature to talk about them. The matter must be thoroughly investigated,” Aliyev stated.
The president of the country affirms that the Azerbaijani public will be regularly informed of the conclusions, work and the progress of the commission in the criminal case.
Previous reports suggested that the plane, which was covering its usual route between Baku and Grozny, was forced to divert after experiencing adverse weather conditions. Azerbaijani media report that the pilots aboard the Embraer 190 made the decision to attempt to make an emergency landing in Aktau to avoid the weather conditions.
Russian media speculated that the plane may have been shot down accidentally confuse it with a Ukrainian drone. Russia was apparently actively repelling Ukrainian drone attacks in the region at the time of the crash, but no official source has confirmed or commented on this theory.
Flight tracking data from the FlightRadar24 website showed the aircraft made what appeared to be a figure eight as it approached Aktau airport. Your altitude rose and fell considerably during the last few minutes of flight before impacting the ground.
FlightRadar24 stated in an online post that the plane had faced a “strong GPS interference“, which “caused the plane to transmit erroneous ADS-B data,” referring to the information that allows flight tracking websites to track planes in flight.
Social media videos collected by news channel ‘AnewZ’ appear to show the plane struggling to make an emergency landing and turning into a large fireball as it hits the ground.
A spokesperson for Azerbaijan Airlines indicated that they are cooperating with the investigation, while assuring that all medical and psychological support will be provided necessary to the victims of the accident and their families, regardless of their nationality.
