Kazakhstan says investigation into Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash nears conclusion Details coming soon

Preliminary results of the investigation into the Azerbaijani plane that crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau city on December 25, 2024, will be published in the coming days, as announced by the Kazakh Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev.

According to him, the joint efforts of experts from multiple countries are close to completion, Caliber.Az reports via Kazakh media.

To recall, on December 25, 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243, an Embraer 190AR, tragically crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, during an emergency landing attempt. The flight was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, and carried 67 individuals, including 62 passengers and five crew members. Among the passengers, there were 42 Azerbaijanis, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three Kyrgyz nationals. The crash claimed 38 lives, while 29 survivors, including three crew members, were rescued. Of the five crew members, three tragically lost their lives, and two survived.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the aircraft was struck by a Russian surface-to-air missile "Pantsir-S1" during efforts to repel a Ukrainian drone attack over Chechnya.

On December 28, Russia's President Vladimir Putin made a phone call to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Putin expressed condolences and apologised to Ilham Aliyev for the tragic incident that occurred in Russian airspace. The Azerbaijani president demanded Putin bring those responsible to justice and provide compensation to Azerbaijan, as well as to the injured passengers and the families of the deceased passengers and crew members.

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 Khagan Isayev