Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Carrying 67 Passengers Crashes Near Aktau, Kazakhstan, and Catches Fire
A passenger plane from Azerbaijan Airlines caught fire after crashing near Aktau city in Kazakhstan, according to the country’s Ministry of Emergencies.
The Embraer 190 was heading from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia, but took a different route as it was forced to do due to fog in Grozny. The plane had 62 passengers and five crew members. According to the ministry’s Telegram update, preliminary reports suggest that 32 people survived the crash, while 22 are hospitalized.
A video showed the plane losing altitude very rapidly and banking to the right before crashing into an open field and catching fire. The plane had made several circles around the airport, requesting an emergency landing before stalling and crashing.
The Kazakh transport ministry reported that the passengers comprised 37 people from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 from Russia, according to AFP.
The plane had sent out a distress signal before the crash. It was a bird strike and a steering malfunction. The pilots tried to regain altitude and speed until the very end. The controls failed completely.
The other video showed the plane trying to gain altitude and then stalling. It circled near the airport before crashing.
Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed that the Embraer 190, operating flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny, made an emergency landing about 3 kilometers from Aktau. The airline assured that more details would be released to the public soon.
Visuals emerging from the crash site indicate that some ambulances were available at the scene, and few survivors could be seen from the rear emergency exit of the aircraft. The registration number of the plane, 4K-AZ65, appeared to be consistent with that available on FlightRadar24.
Data from FlightRadar24 indicates the aircraft was flying over the Caspian Sea in its flight path to Chechnya when it proceeded into Russian airspace and entered a pattern near the airport to seek an emergency landing. The accident happened at 6:28 am UTC (11:58 am local time) near the shore of the Caspian Sea, a few kilometers from the airport. According to FlightRadar24, the aircraft was also exposed to “strong GPS jamming,” which led to the aircraft transmitting false ADS-B data.
ADS-B is a surveillance system that integrates an aircraft’s position, avionics, and ground infrastructure to provide accurate monitoring between aircraft and Air Traffic Control.
