Brazil kicks off investigation into AZAL plane crash with black box decoding

Brazil has begun the crucial task of decoding the black boxes from the AZAL plane that tragically crashed on December 25 near Kazakhstan's Aktau.

According to the Brazilian news outlet, G1, the voice recorder from the cockpit arrived in Brazil on January 1, and experts immediately began analyzing the data on January 2, Caliber.Az reports citing local media.

The investigation is being led by Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira — FAB) specialists, with the data to be shared with Kazakhstan's Air Accident Investigation Department, which is officially responsible for analyzing the crash.

The AZAL flight, en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard, while 29 survived.

In a national tribute, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev posthumously awarded the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan to the fallen crew members: Igor Ivanovich Kshnyakin, Alexander Georgiyevich Kalyaninov, and Hokuma Jalil gizi Aliyeva. 

The two surviving crew members, Zulfigar Sardar oglu Asadov and Aidan Vagif gizi Rahimli, received the Order ‘Rashadat’ of the 1st degree for their bravery.

Preliminary findings suggest that external physical and technical interference may have played a role in the crash. The ongoing decoding of the black boxes is expected to reveal more about the sequence of events leading to the tragic incident.

By Tamilla Hasanova