Russia warns in opposition to ‘hypotheses’ about Azerbaijan Airways crash

The Russian authorities has warned in opposition to selling “hypotheses” about the reason for the crash of a Russia-bound airliner that killed 38 individuals in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Some aviation consultants have instructed that the Azerbaijan Airways aircraft was hit by air protection techniques over the Russian republic of Chechnya, and pro-government media in Azerbaijan cite officers as saying {that a} missile Russian was accountable.

Earlier than crashing close to the Kazakh city of Aktau, the aircraft was diverted throughout the Caspian Sea from its vacation spot in Chechnya to western Kazakhstan.

Twenty-nine of the 67 individuals on board survived. Azerbaijan held a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the accident on Thursday.

“This can be a nice tragedy that has change into an enormous disappointment for the Azerbaijani individuals,” President Ilham Aliyev stated on Thursday.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated: “It could be a mistake to place ahead hypotheses earlier than the conclusions of the investigation. After all, we can’t do it and nobody ought to. We’ve got to attend till the investigation is accomplished. accomplished.”

The Embraer 190 aircraft took off Wednesday morning from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital. It was because of fly to Grozny in Chechnya however was diverted because of fog, the airline stated.

A surviving passenger informed Russian tv that he believed the pilot had twice tried to land in heavy fog over Grozny earlier than “the third time one thing exploded… a part of the aircraft’s hull exploded.

The aircraft was redirected to Aktau airport, positioned about 450 kilometers to the east. Footage exhibits the aircraft heading in direction of the bottom at excessive pace 3 km (1.9 miles) from the runway, earlier than bursting into flames upon touchdown.

Kazakh authorities have recovered the flight information recorder and an investigation is underway. Shortly after the accident, reviews on state-controlled Russian tv stated the most definitely trigger was a collision with a flock of birds.

However any such collision often leads to the aircraft sliding in direction of the closest airfield, aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia informed the Reuters information company. “You may lose management of the aircraft, however you don’t all of the sudden veer off target,” he stated.

Justin Crump, of threat consultancy Sibylline, stated harm to the aircraft’s inside and exterior indicated that energetic Russian air defenses in Grozny could have prompted the crash. .

“It appears to be like lots just like the detonation of an air protection missile to the rear and left of the aircraft, in case you take a look at the sample of shrapnel that we see,” he informed the BBC Radio 4.

On Thursday night, pro-government Azerbaijani channel AnewZ stated a preliminary investigation concluded that the aircraft was hit by shrapnel from a surface-to-air missile from Russia’s Pantsir-S protection system.

Requested concerning the reviews, the legal professional common’s workplace informed the BBC that every model was being investigated.

Chechnya has already been hit by Ukrainian drone strikes this month and authorities in neighboring Ingushetia stated the Russian area had been focused for the primary time since Ukraine’s warfare started.

A shopping mall was hit by a drone strike in neighboring North Ossetia, killing a lady, in keeping with reviews.

The passengers have been largely Azerbaijani nationals, however there have been additionally passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Video footage confirmed survivors crawling from the wreckage, some with seen accidents.

The injured have been taken to hospital. On Thursday, Azerbaijan’s Azertac information company stated seven of them have been in adequate situation to return to Baku.

Azeri Airways informed reporters that the aircraft had been totally overhauled in October and had no technical malfunctions.

Embraer, a Brazilian producer and a smaller rival to Boeing and Airbus, has a robust security report.