That surviving plane of Azerbaijan Airlines It fell in Kazakhstan It has been reported that during the flight, bangs and explosions were heard outside the plane, as the cause of the fatal crash continues to be investigated.
An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport on Wednesday morning, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, Kazakh authorities said.
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP via Getty Images
An Azeri crew member who survived the crash told ABC News in a phone call from his hospital room on Friday that he heard three bangs while flying over Grozny, Russia. He said he thinks the noises were coming from outside the plane.
The crew member, who did not give his name because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said he suffered injuries to his left arm in the crash. He was hospitalized in Aktaun but has since been transferred to a hospital in Baku (Azerbaijan).
The plane was flying from Baku to Grozny, but was unable to land due to heavy fog, according to the crew. The flight was diverted to Aktau, Kazakhstan when it crashed while attempting to land.
A traveler he told Reuters that he heard a thump from his hospital bed, saw the oxygen masks fall and that the fuselage was damaged. He said that at first he thought the plane was going to crash and started praying.
“It was obvious that the plane was somehow damaged,” passenger Subhonkul Rakhimov told Reuters. “It was like he was drunk, it’s not the same plane anymore.”
Rakhimov said they were “thrown back and forth” with the strap on and then it was quiet, at which point he realized they had landed.
Airport ground staff and medics survive the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 passenger plane near the western Kazakhstan city of Aktau on arrival at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport on December 26, 2024.
Stringer/AFP via Getty Images
Another passenger told Reuters he felt “two explosions” 20 to 30 minutes after takeoff. A flight attendant told Reuters there were “external impact” injuries on the flight, and that he had hurt his arm.
Azerbaijan’s transport minister said on Friday that passengers and flight attendants on the plane heard explosions “from outside” and then something touched the plane over Grozny, according to local media.
Authorities in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are investigating the accident. The cause is still being determined, but many sources point to possible Russian involvement.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters on Friday that there are “early indications” that the plane may have been shot down by Russian air defense systems, but added that the investigation is ongoing.
A senior Azeri government source told ABC News on Thursday that there is new evidence that the plane was brought down by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
The plane was flying over an area where Moscow’s air defenses have battled Ukrainian drones.
Videos and photos of the plane after the crash show bullet holes in parts of the plane.
“Preliminary opinions of experts indicate the presence of external interference,” Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev said on Friday. “This is evidenced by the appearance of the wreckage of the plane on the ground and the testimonies of the witnesses.”
Azerbaijan Airlines also said on Friday that the first results of the investigation show that the crash was caused by “external physical and technical interference”.
The Kremlin did not want to comment on the matter until the crash investigation was completed.
“The investigation into the air crash is ongoing. And we don’t think we have the right to make any assessment and we won’t until we draw conclusions based on the results of the investigation,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters. friday “We have our own aviation authorities who can do that, and that information may only come from them.”
The head of Russia’s federal air transport agency, Dmitri Yadrov, blamed Ukraine for the crash.
“The situation in the Grozny airport area was quite complicated that day and at those hours. Ukrainian drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov said on Friday, according to state media.
Emergency specialists work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP via Getty Images
Azerbaijan Airlines has temporarily suspended flights from Baku to 10 Russian cities “due to external physical and technical interference and taking into account potential risks to flight safety,” the airline said on Friday.
“The suspension will be in effect until the final investigation is completed,” he added.
Several other airlines, including El Al, Flydubai and Qazaq Air, have also suspended flights to several Russian cities as a result of the crash.
ABC News’ Tomek Rolski, Michelle Stoddart and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
