Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to Azerbaijan’s President for the fact that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Russian airspace, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Dozens of passengers were killed and wounded in the crash that aviation experts speculated was hit by Russian air defence systems responding to a Ukrainian drone attack.
Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people and injured 29 survivors as an investigation got underway. Azerbaijan Airlines initially said a flock of birds might have caused the crash before retracting that statement, while Russia sought to downplay speculation the aircraft may have accidentally been shot down.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It crashed Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
An investigation into the causes of the crash is underway, but some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot by Russian air defense systems as it was flying in an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.
loud bang
According to a report two passengers and one crew member on the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters that they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia.
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 attack drones.
“After the bang…I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers, told Reuters from hospital.
He said he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing the bang.
“It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way,” he said. “It was as if it was drunk – not the same plane anymore.”
Another passenger on the plane told Reuters that she also heard a loud bang.
France 24/ Reuters