Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed after ‘physical and technical external interference,’ carrier says

CNN
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Azerbaijan Airlines said Friday the passenger jet that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day experienced “physical and technical external interference,” according to an early investigation.

At least 38 of the 67 people on board the plane were killed in the crash, Kazakh authorities confirmed, including two pilots and a flight attendant.

A US official told CNN on Thursday that early indications suggest a Russian anti-aircraft system may have downed the passenger jet. Reuters also reported that the plane was downed by a Russian air defense system, citing multiple unnamed sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation.

Russia said on Friday that the passenger jet was diverted from its original destination in Grozny, Chechnya because of Ukrainian drones in the area, as well as fog.

While flight J2-8243 was trying to land in the southern Russian republic, “Ukrainian combat drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, said.

Because of this, Yadrov said, the area’s skies were closed, which meant that aircraft in the vicinity needed to leave the airspace immediately.

The plane’s pilot attempted to land in Grozny twice, Yadrov said, but was unsuccessful. He was offered other airports to land in, the official continued, but the pilot “decided to proceed to the Aktau airport” across the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. There was also dense fog in the area of ​​the Grozny airport, he said.

In a statement on Friday, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian media has “lied about the cause of the crash,” adding that Moscow “forced the damaged jet to cross the sea, most likely in an attempt to conceal evidence of their crime.”

“Photos and videos from the cabin and after the crash are a smoking gun,” Sybiha said, calling for a “fair and impartial investigation to ensure that those responsible are held to account.”

Russian state media has previously reported that the plane was rerouted due to heavy fog in Grozny. Its Federal Air Transport Agency also previously said the plane crashed after colliding with birds.

This is a developing story and will be updated.