Azerbaijan rebukes disinformation about AZAL crash, urges public to ignore fake claims
A fraudulent statement claiming to be from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the crash of an AZAL airline plane has been circulating online.
The fake statement, purportedly issued by Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada, falsely attributes the preliminary findings of the investigation to Russia, suggesting that the crash was caused by a collision with birds, Caliber.Az reports.
The fabricated statement further claims that Azerbaijan has issued an apology to Russia for allegedly spreading false information about the incident. However, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly rejected the statement, labeling it as part of a larger effort to spread disinformation.
The Ministry emphasized that this deceptive message is a part of ongoing hybrid attacks aimed at undermining the country's credibility, particularly ahead of the official publication of the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash near Aktau.
Officials have urged the public to disregard such false claims and warned against falling victim to the spread of misinformation. "Do not fall for this kind of rubbish," the Ministry stated, reaffirming its commitment to transparency and truthfulness in handling the investigation.
The tragic crash occurred on December 25, 2024, when an Embraer 190 aircraft, operating flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny, crashed while attempting an emergency landing near Aktau. The flight had 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and five crew members. Passengers included 37 Azerbaijani, 16 Russian, 6 Kazakh, and 3 Kyrgyz nationals.
The crash claimed the lives of 38 people, while 29 survived.
According to preliminary data, the plane was downed by the Russian "Pantsir-S1" air defence system. While Russia initially sought to obscure the true cause of the tragedy with conflicting reports, further investigation has since brought clarity to the situation.
On January 24, Caliber.Az's new findings confirmed that both the individual who fired on the plane and the officer who issued the order have been identified. Additionally, the initial report of the plane being struck by the Russian Pantsir-S1 has been verified.
The investigation also revealed that before the plane was struck, it was affected by electronic warfare (EW), which compromised the aircraft’s navigation systems and significantly hindered the crew’s ability to control the plane.
By Vafa Guliyeva