Kazakhstan sends black boxes from Aktau plane crash to Brazil for investigation

On December 30, Kazakhstan has dispatched the black boxes from the plane that crashed in Aktau to Brazil.

The flight data recorders will be handed over to Brazil's Aviation Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA), which will be responsible for analysing and decrypting the data, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing with authorities working to determine the cause of the crash.

To recap, 38 passengers were killed on December 25 when Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, after a missile strike caused significant damage mid-flight. Azerbaijani government sources confirmed that a Russian surface-to-air missile, fired during drone activity above Grozny, struck the plane. Shrapnel from the explosion hit passengers and crew members.

Despite pilots' requests for an emergency landing, Russian authorities denied access to nearby airports, directing the damaged aircraft towards Aktau.

During the flight, the plane's GPS navigation systems were reportedly jammed. The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system, with Russian forces targeting Ukrainian drones over Chechnya at the time. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev