Airplane crash probe in Kazakhstan underway as hypothesis mounts about potential Russian involvement

Azerbaijan on Thursday noticed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the aircraft crash that killed 38 individuals and left 29 survivors injured, as hypothesis mounted about the reason for the catastrophe — together with whether or not potential Russian air protection operations might have performed a task.

Azerbaijan Airways’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian metropolis of Grozny within the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted, for causes which are nonetheless unclear, and crashed whereas making an attempt to land in Aktau, in western Kazakhstan, after flying east throughout the Caspian Sea. The aircraft went down about 2 miles from Aktau.

A U.S. official advised CBS Information there are early indications a Russian anti-aircraft system might have struck the aircraft. The official, who requested to not be publicly recognized, stated that if these indications show true, it could additional underscore Russian recklessness in its invasion of Ukraine.

Cellphone footage circulating on-line appeared to point out the plane making a steep descent earlier than smashing into the bottom in a fireball. Different footage and photographs confirmed a part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rear half of the plane mendacity the other way up within the grass.

Talking at a information convention Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated it was too quickly to take a position on the explanations behind the crash however stated the climate had pressured the aircraft to alter from its deliberate course.

“The knowledge offered to me is that the aircraft modified its course between Baku and Grozny as a result of worsening climate circumstances and headed to Aktau airport, the place it crashed upon touchdown,” he stated. 

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, stated preliminary data indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a fowl strike led to an emergency on board.

What occurred subsequent additionally stays unclear. 

A regional official in Kazakhstan appeared to acknowledge Thursday that the investigation is wanting into whether or not Russian air defenses downed the aircraft. Mangystau Regional Transport Prosecutor Abylaibek Ordabayev stated they haven’t but come to any conclusions about whether or not that was the case, Reuters information company reported.

Russian anti-aircraft programs eyed in investigation

Because the official crash investigation began, theories abounded a couple of potential trigger, with some analysts alleging that holes seen within the aircraft’s tail part probably point out it might have come below fireplace from Russian air protection programs, like these used for warding off Ukrainian drone assaults.

Ukrainian drones had beforehand attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and different areas within the nation’s North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed there was one other drone assault on Chechnya Wednesday, although it wasn’t formally confirmed.

Yan Matveyev, an impartial Russian army knowledgeable, famous that pictures of the crashed aircraft’s tail reveal the harm appropriate with shrapnel from a small surface-to-air missiles, such because the Pantsyr-S1 air protection system. 

“It appears just like the tail part of the aircraft was broken by some missile fragments,” he stated.

Osprey Flight Options, an aviation safety agency primarily based in the UK, warned its shoppers that the “Azerbaijan Airways flight was doubtless shot down by a Russian army air-defense system.” Osprey supplies evaluation for carriers nonetheless flying into Russia after Western airways halted their flights throughout the battle in Ukraine.

Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson stated the corporate had issued greater than 200 alerts concerning drone assaults and air protection programs in Russia throughout the battle.

“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote on-line. “It’s painful to know that regardless of our efforts, lives have been misplaced in a method that might have been averted.”

Russian army knowledgeable Yury Podolyaka was cited by Agence France-Presse as saying holes seen within the aircraft’s wreckage have been much like these an “anti-aircraft missile system” would go away. “Every little thing factors to that,” he wrote.

And Gerard Legauffre, a former knowledgeable at France’s BEA air accident investigation company, additionally stated there seemed to be “a whole lot of shrapnel” harm to the wreckage, in keeping with AFP.

He depicted it as “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airways flight MH17, a passenger jet that was downed with a surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over japanese Ukraine in 2014.

However when requested concerning the claims that the aircraft had been fired upon by air protection property, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters, “It might be mistaken to make hypotheses earlier than investigators make their verdict.”

Kazakhstan’s parliamentary Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev additionally warned in opposition to speeding to conclusions primarily based on photos of the aircraft’s fragments, describing the allegations of air protection fireplace as unfounded and “unethical.”

Different officers in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have equally averted touch upon a potential reason for the crash, saying it is going to be as much as investigators to find out.

Nationwide flags have been lowered throughout Azerbaijan on Thursday, visitors throughout the nation stopped at midday and indicators have been sounded from ships and trains because the nation noticed a nationwide second of silence.

contributed to this report.