Azerbaijanis mourn victims Aviation experts say Russia's air defence fire responsible for crash

Associated Press

Baku: Aviation experts said Thursday that Russian air defence fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons still unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea. The plane went down about 3 km (2 miles) from Aktau.

Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before crashing into the ground and exploding in a fireball. Other footage showed a part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside down on the grass. Azerbaijan mourned the crash victims with national flags at half-staff across on Thursday. Traffic stopped at noon, and sirens sounded from ships and trains as it observed a nationwide moment of silence. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course. The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing, he said.

Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board. Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia were tight-lipped about a possible cause of the crash but a lawmaker in Azerbaijan blamed Moscow. Rasim Musabekov told the Azerbaijani news agency Turan that the plane was fired on while in the skies over Grozny and urged Russia to offer an official apology. Those who did this must face criminal charges, Musabekov was quoted by Turan as saying, adding that compensations to the victims should also be paid.

If it doesn't happen, relations will be affected. As the official crash investigation started, some experts pointed out that holes seen in the plane's tail section could indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defence systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.