Azerbaijan is witnessing a day of mourning after a passenger plane belonging to a local airline crashed off the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Authorities across Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating the emergency landing on Wednesday morning that killed at least 38 people.
Here’s what we know about the incident.
Where did the passenger plane crash?
The plane crashed about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
The plane was on its way from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny, the capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia.
Who was on board?
The Embraer 190, flight J2-8243, was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members.
According to Kazakh officials, the people on board were citizens of four different countries:
- 42 Azerbaijani citizens
- 16 Russian citizens
- 6 Kazakh citizens
- 3 Kyrgyz citizens
How many of them survived?
There are 32 survivors, including two children, who were taken to hospital, many of them in critical condition. Many were pulled from the wreckage, while some, according to first responders and video footage, dragged themselves out, covered in blood.
Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Kanat Bozumbayev, announced that 38 people had been killed.
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted emergency workers at the scene as saying that, according to a preliminary assessment, the two pilots were killed in the accident.
Why did the plane crash?
The Russian Aviation Supervision Authority said on the Telegram application that the accident occurred due to an “emergency situation” on board the plane after a bird collided with it.
The plane was forced to change its original course due to heavy fog in Grozny, its intended destination, and make an emergency landing.
Commercial aviation tracking websites recorded the flight heading north along its scheduled West Coast route before it disappeared. The plane later reappeared on the east coast and flew near Aktau Airport before eventually crashing.
“According to initial reports, the plane requested to land at an alternative airport before the accident occurred… due to heavy fog in Grozny,” Yulia Shapovalova from Moscow said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement: “According to the information provided to me, the AZAL plane, which was flying on the Baku-Grozny route, changed its course due to bad weather conditions and began heading towards Aktau Airport, where the accident occurred.” During landing.”
The nearest Russian airport, Makhachkala, was closed earlier in the day due to drone activity.
Strong GPS interference in the area, which has been linked to previous incidents, may have further complicated navigation and contributed to the accident, according to an online posting by FlightRadar24.
Aliyev admitted that there were multiple theories about the cause of the accident, but warned against speculation.
He added: “There are videos of the plane crash available in the media and on social networks, and everyone can watch them. But the causes of the crash are not yet known to us.” “There are different theories, but I think it is too early to discuss them.”
What’s the latest on Earth?
Emergency services have actively responded to the situation.
Firefighters extinguished the fire resulting from the accident, while 150 emergency workers and medical teams, including specialist doctors who were airlifted from Astana, are treating the injured.
Azerbaijan Airlines said it would suspend all flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as Baku and Makhachkala until the investigation is completed.
The airline also established a hotline for passengers’ family members and published all their names on its social media pages.
Aliyev also signed a decree declaring December 26 a day of mourning in the country. The Azerbaijani president, who was flying to Russia for a summit at the time, said he was informed of the incident while he was in the air.
Aliyev said in a statement issued by his office: “I immediately instructed the plane to return to Baku.”
What investigations are being conducted?
Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the incident.
“An investigation team led by the Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan has been sent to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site,” the Azerbaijan Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.
Azerbaijan’s state news agency AZERTAC said the team sent to Aktau to conduct a “field investigation” also included Azerbaijan’s Minister of Emergency Situations and the Vice President of Azerbaijan Airlines. AZERTAC said the plane’s black box, the flight recorder used by investigators to determine the causes of aviation accidents, had been found.
Aliyev said in his statement that “a criminal case has been opened” and that the Azerbaijani public “will be regularly informed” of the progress of the investigation.
Kazakhstan formed a government committee to examine the cause of the disaster and ensure that the families of the dead and wounded get the help they need.
Investigations are focusing on possible technical problems and the closure of nearby airspace.
Embraer, the Brazilian manufacturer of the plane, expressed its willingness to assist in the investigation.
