Anniversary of AZAL plane tragedy: President Aliyev shares post

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev shared a post on his social media accounts on December 25 to mark the first anniversary of the tragedy involving an Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL).

In his publication, the head of state commemorated the victims of the crash and paid tribute to the passengers and crew members who lost their lives in the incident, which occurred on December 25, 2024. The tragedy became one of the most painful events in Azerbaijan’s recent history and deeply affected the nation.

pic.twitter.com/UiLRGHGvUj

— İlham Əliyev (@azpresident) December 25, 2025

On December 25, 2024, AZAL Flight 8243, an Embraer 190AR operating from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan during an emergency landing attempt. There were 67 people on board — 62 passengers and five crew members. The crash claimed 38 lives, including three crew members, while 29 people survived, among them three children.

The passengers included citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, making the tragedy an international one that deeply affected Azerbaijani society.

Preliminary findings of the investigation, led by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, ruled out technical malfunctions of the aircraft or its engines. Instead, investigators identified a series of critical anomalies: the loss of GPS signals over Russian airspace, serious external damage to the fuselage, stabilisers, and wings, and the presence of foreign objects embedded in the wreckage. These findings pointed to external interference rather than an internal systems failure.

Subsequent assessments indicated that the aircraft was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S1 air defence missile amid Russian air defence activity aimed at countering a Ukrainian drone attack over Chechnya. Investigators also concluded that electronic warfare systems had disrupted the aircraft’s navigation, significantly complicating the crew’s ability to control the plane after it was damaged.

The aircraft’s black boxes were decoded in Brazil on January 7, 2025, and a preliminary report was published by Kazakhstan on February 4, providing a detailed timeline of events and photographic evidence of the damage. Two parallel investigations were launched: a criminal probe coordinated between Kazakh and Russian authorities, and a technical investigation by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, which is now nearing completion.

On October 9, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the incident in talks with President Ilham Aliyev, stating that Russia would conduct a legal assessment of the actions of all officials involved and provide compensation. He attributed the tragedy to a combination of factors, including drone activity, air defence system failures, and human error, signalling Moscow’s intention not to leave the matter unresolved.

By Vugar Khalilov