(Dec 28): Azerbaijan Airlines said the crash of its passenger plane in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people this week was caused by “external interference.”
The airline said it suspended flights to 10 cities in Russia, following the recommendations of the Azerbaijan State Civil Aviation Authority. The decision was based on preliminary results of the investigation into the crash in Aktau, Kazakhstan, which found evidence of “physical and technical external interference,” the airline said in a statement Friday.
Azerbaijan’s transportation minister echoed the assessment in an interview with a local television station, saying the investigation would seek to determine what type of weapon was used.
The Embraer SA 190 aircraft left Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on Wednesday carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. It was nearing its planned destination in Grozny, Russia, when it was forced to divert across the Caspian Sea. Ultimately, the plane crashed about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.
The aircraft was damaged by Russian air defence systems near Grozny before the attempted emergency landing in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan government-backed Caliber news website reported Thursday, citing unidentified government officials. As a result of the use of electronic warfare systems by the Russians, the aircraft’s communication system was completely paralysed, the news website reported.
Governments in Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan haven’t commented directly on the Caliber report.
Dmitry Yadrov, head of the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, confirmed in a video statement to Tass that Grozny airport had been facing Ukrainian drone attacks at the time when the Azerbaijan Airlines’ aircraft was planning to land. The pilot was offered several airports as options for landing, but chose to fly to Kazakhstan, he said.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, on a briefing call with reporters Friday, said the US had intelligence that informed its appraisal of the crash. Kirby said the US had “seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems.”
He added that the US had offered assistance to the ongoing investigation and that President Joe Biden was being “apprised and kept up to date.”
Azerbaijan Airlines plans to continue flying to a few Russian cities.
The government in Baku, meanwhile, turned down a request by Russia and Kazakhstan for the crash to be investigated by an aviation body of the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States, the pro-government APA news service reported, citing an Azerbaijani official it didn’t name.
Instead, Azerbaijan called for an investigation by an international group of experts and representatives from plane maker Embraer, the report said.
The safety of Russian airspace has been affected by the war with Ukraine, as drone attacks become a larger element of Kyiv’s arsenal and Moscow has responded with anti-missile systems.
Russia on Friday temporarily suspended flights at three airports in the North Caucasus, including in Grozny, Tass reported. The Kazan and Sochi airports also were closed for flights, according to Interfax.
On Thursday, Israeli airline El Al suspended its flights on the Tel Aviv-Moscow route for the coming week, due to “developments in Russian airspace.”
United Arab Emirates’ FlyDubai cancelled flights to two Russian cities in the south until early January for “operational reasons,” it said.
Read also:
Azeri plane hit by Russian air defence before crash — report
Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38
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