Thread: Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan Airlines flight, sources say

Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday.


Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian drone strikes.

The Embraer passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia's southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.


It crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.


Officials did not explain why it had crossed the sea. The nearest Russian airport on the plane's flight path, Makhachkala, was closed on Wednesday morning.


One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan's investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems on the approach into Grozny, the source said.

"No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft," the source said.


Three other sources confirmed that the Azeri investigation had come to the same preliminary conclusion. Russia's Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.


A U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday there were early indications a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the plane. Canada said it was deeply concerned by reports that Russian air defence may have struck the aircraft.


"We call on Russia to allow for an open and transparent investigation into the incident and to accept its findings," the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement on X.

Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev said he could neither confirm nor deny the thesis that Russian air defences downed the plane.


Asked about the possibility that Russian air defences shot at the plane, the Kazakh transport prosecutor for the region where the plane came down said the investigation had yet to reach a firm conclusion.


The Kremlin, asked before the Reuters report about the idea that the aircraft had been shot at by Russian air defences, said it would be improper to comment until the inquiry was concluded.


"It is wrong to build hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

WRECKAGE


Footage shot by passengers on the plane before it crashed showed oxygen masks down and people wearing life vests. Later footage showed bloodied and bruised passengers climbing out of the plane. There were 29 survivors.


Pictures of the plane wreckage showed what appeared to be shrapnel damage to the tail section of the plane.


Aviation security firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in an alert to airlines on Wednesday that footage of the wreckage and the circumstances around the air space in southwest Russia indicated the possibility that the airliner was hit by some form of anti-aircraft fire.


Ukrainian military drones have repeatedly targeted Russia's southern regions in recent months, triggering Russian air defences. Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow's invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.


Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry had reported the downing of 59 Ukrainian drones over several regions.


Some were reportedly shot down in closed air space over regions bordering Ukraine, including the Sea of Azov. Flight operations were reportedly temporarily suspended at Russia’s Kazan Airport due to the activity.


In addition, publicly available ADS-B flight tracking data shows that the Azerbaijani aircraft experienced GPS jamming throughout its flight over southwest Russia, the alert said.


Russia uses advanced electronic jamming equipment to confuse Ukrainian drone location and communication systems and a large number of air defence systems have been deployed to shoot down the drones.

Russian air defences downed Azerbaijan Airlines flight, sources say

Fxck the Russians are useless. And Trump wants to surrender to these dumbasses.

Pictures of the plane wreckage showed what appeared to be shrapnel damage to the tail section of the plane.

if true that might be the smoking gun obliterating the Russian denials of involvement.

^ You can see the shrapnel damage to the tail and stabiliser in the image here, without the need to watch the video.
Russia warns against '''hypotheses''' in Azerbaijan Airlines crash

The pilots probably had no idea they had been hit, just had difficulty controlling...and managed to save a few passengers with heroic efforts to land.

Originally Posted by misskit

"It is wrong to build hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

No, really it is not wrong. An hypothesis is simply an idea, one that needs to be tested.
Added to which it is plainly evident to CSI TD that the plane was punctured multiple times from the outside. Shrapnel. If Dmitry chooses to disagree that would be because he is the lying voice of an arrogant dictator.

Putin apologizes for ‘tragic incident’ but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.


Putin’s apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.


An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane.


The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”

The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors.


According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to “external physical and technical interference,” although he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses.


Aliyev noted that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries “due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.”

He said that a team of international experts had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan’s initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny.


On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.

President Joe Biden, responding on Saturday to a reporter asking whether he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash, said: “Apparently he did but I haven’t spoken to him.” Biden made the comment after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.


Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.


Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau.


Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board.


In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details.


If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.


Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.

Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.


Several other airlines have made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.


Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country’s flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this week, Israel’s El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.”

Putin apologizes to Azerbaijani leader for '''tragic''' plane crash | AP News

Filthy Russian scum. Even despite their error, it may have had a chance to land in one piece if they hadn't forced it to divert elsewhere.

Azerbaijan says Russia shot at plane before crash, demands it admit guilt

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Sunday (Dec 29) demanded that Russia admit that it fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet before it crashed, accusing Moscow of initially trying to cover up the cause of the fatal disaster.


Aliyev made the accusation in an interview with state media at Baku airport four days after the AZAL Embraer 190 plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.


Azerbaijani officials have suggested that the aircraft was hit by a Russian air-defence system as it tried to land in Grozny, capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.


The transport ministry in Kazakhstan on Sunday said that the aeroplane's black box would be sent for analysis to Brazil, which manufactures the Embraer plane.


Aliyev's unusually forthright accusation of his country's traditional ally came a day after he spoke by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin.


A Kremlin statement about the phone call gave no indication that Putin had claimed responsibility for the crash.

"The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control," Aliyev told state television.


"We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control ... At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged," he said.


Aliyev said that while "our plane was hit by accident", Baku was angry that Moscow had apparently tried to hide the cause of the crash and demanded its ally admit responsibility.


He said it was "regrettable and surprising" that Moscow "put forward theories" that, he said, "clearly showed the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue".


"For the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except some absurd theories," he said, adding that these included the plane hitting a flock of birds.


He called the theory "completely removed" from reality, pointing out that the plane's "fuselage is riddled with holes".


Russia has said that Grozny was being attacked by Ukrainian drones the day that the AZAL flight tried to land.

AZERBAIJANI DEMANDS


Aliyev urged Moscow to issue a public apology to his country, saying Baku had made official "demands" to Russia two days ago.


"First, the Russian side must apologise to Azerbaijan.


"Second, it must acknowledge its guilt.


"Third, those responsible must be punished, brought to criminal responsibility, and compensation must be paid to the Azerbaijani state, as well as to the injured passengers and crew members.


"These are our conditions," Aliyev said, in unusually strong language directed at Moscow.

The Kremlin on Saturday said that during their phone conversation, Putin had apologised to Azerbaijan over the "tragic incident".


Putin said Russian air defence was operating in Grozny on December 25 when the plane tried to land, before diverting and crashing in western Kazakhstan.


The Kremlin statement gave no indication that Putin had said Russia was at fault. Later on Saturday, the Russian leader called for a "transparent" probe into the crash.


Aliyev's office on Saturday said that he had "emphasised" during the call that the plane had been subject to outside interference over Russia.


Russian news agencies reported that Putin and Aliyev discussed the crash again on Sunday.

The United States this week said that it had "early indications" that Russia was responsible for the crash but did not provide details.


The European Union on Saturday called for a "swift" and "independent" probe into the crash.


The International Air Transport Association on Sunday called for a "thorough, transparent and impartial" probe.


"We must find out why this catastrophe happened and take action to ensure there is never a repeat," it said in a statement.


"Civil aircraft must never be the intended or accidental target of military operations."

Azerbaijan says Russia shot at plane before crash, demands it admit guilt - CNA

Well they're rushing that, aren't they?

The investigation into the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane in Kazakhstan, which occurred in late December 2024, is expected to culminate in a final report within a three-year timeframe.
The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan confirmed this timeline in a statement,Caliber.Azreports per Russian media.

I'm going to guess that either they've been doctored or the high heeled war criminal has been on the phone offering all sorts for Kazakhstan to keep its gob shut.

ASTANA — Decrypted black boxes of the AZAL plane, which crashed on Dec. 25 last year in Aktau, were brought from Brazil to Kazakhstan.
Today, their data is being examined by specialists, reported Kazinform referring to the Kazakh Ministry of Transport on Jan. 15.
The Commission for the Investigation of the Aviation Accident of the Kazakh Transport Ministry, in accordance with the standards and recommended practices of Annex 13 of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), after a detailed study of all the facts and materials, will publish a Preliminary Report, which will present established factual information on the progress of the investigation.
The crash killed 38 people and left 29 injured, including three children.

Decrypted AZAL Plane Black Boxes Delivered to Kazakhstan - The Astana Times