Compilation of footage of plane crash in Kazakhstan, killing 38; reports also suggest Russian missile was fired in error



On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane en route to Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic of Russia, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 passengers and crew. Russian authorities say the cause of the accident was a bird strike, but some media outlets have reported that it may have been an accident caused by an air defense missile system.

Please note that this article contains footage and images of aircraft accidents, so please view with caution.

Was Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer jet shot down? Marks on the plane's exterior suggest it was hit by military air defenses. Meduza considers the evidence. — Meduza

https://meduza.io/en/cards/was-azerbaijan-airlines-embraer-jet-shot-down

Russian air defense missile incident emerges as likely cause of Azerbaijan Airlines crash | Euronews
https://www.euronews.com/2024/12/25/azerbaijani-passenger-plane-crashes-near-kazakh-city-of-aktau

Azerbaijan Airlines plane headed to Russia crashes hundreds of miles off course, dozens dead | Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/world/azerbaijan-airlines-plane-headed-russia-crashes-hundreds-miles-off-course-dozens-feared-dead

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, killing 38 | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/passenger-plane-crashes-kazakhstan-emergencies-ministry-says-2024-12-25/

Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan. At least 30 likely killed | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/azerbaijan-airliner-crash-kazakhstan-aktau-a655474030a347a5a7ddda3a77bbeddc

On December 25, 2024, the official Azerbaijan Airlines X (formerly Twitter) account reported that 'an Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (flight number J2-8243, Baku-Grozny route) made an emergency landing approximately 3 km outside the city of Aktau.'



Azerbaijan Airlines released a list of the five crew members and 62 passengers, changed its account header and icon to all black, and issued a statement saying, 'Today is a tragic day for Azerbaijan Airlines. We express our deepest sadness and condolences to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew who lost their lives in the Embraer 190 crash near the city of Aktau. We pray that God will have mercy on them.'

According to reports, 38 of the 67 people on board J2-8243, which crashed in the accident, were killed: 42 from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, 6 from Kazakhstan, and 3 from Kyrgyzstan.

Below is a video of what is said to be the crash of Flight J2-8243.

Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan - YouTube


Footage from the crash scene showed bloody people being carried out from the wreckage of the plane.

Watch the moment surviving passengers walk away from Kazakhstan plane crash - YouTube


Additionally, footage has been posted on social media of the plane crash from different angles, as well as footage purportedly from inside the plane during the crash.




Flight J2-8243 was reportedly heading from Azerbaijan to Russia when it deviated from its planned route and crashed into the Caspian Sea coast. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said, 'From the information we have, we believe the plane changed course due to bad weather, but the cause of the crash is unclear and a thorough investigation is required.'

Below is a map compiled by Reuters of the flight path of flight J2-8243 just before the crash, with dotted lines indicating the exact route is unknown.



Russia's civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsi, issued a preliminary assessment that the plane had experienced an emergency caused by a bird

strike .

'Typically, planes that collide with birds are expected to land at the nearest available airport or field,' said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at AeroDynamic Advisory, a U.S. aerospace consulting firm. 'They may lose control of the plane, but they won't deviate too far from their original course.'

Furthermore, European news broadcaster Euronews reported, citing a Russian military blogger, that 'damage to the aircraft suggests it may have been mistakenly shot down by an air defense missile system.'

According to independent Russian-language media Meduza, shortly after the accident, a Russian blogger who goes by the handle 'Fighterbomber' posted a video of the crash site on his Telegram channel and a statement that 'the bird was killed,' alluding to the accident.



The footage in question shows part of the aircraft with a hole in it, which matches existing documentation of aircraft shot down by missiles, Meduza noted, noting that 'the aircraft's tail shows marks consistent with damage caused by an anti-aircraft missile.'

Another Telegram channel, which is said to be in favor of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also supported the theory that the damage to the plane was the result of a missile attack, saying, 'The theories about birds and oxygen tanks may be unfounded.'



Footage from inside the plane also shows holes in the fuselage that appear to have been caused by an external source.



It is unclear where the missile that brought down J2-8243 came from, but as Russia continues to invade Ukraine, Grozny, the city the flight was heading for, was on high alert as a potential target for Ukrainian attacks. In fact, a Ukrainian drone attack had taken place in southern Russia just before the accident, according to Fox News.

Given these factors, Meduza concluded, 'Wherever the damage to the Embraer aircraft occurred, it seems increasingly likely that it was due to error by Russian air defense forces. Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended all flights from Grozny to Makhachkala until an investigation into the cause of the crash is completed, supporting the theory that this was an accidental attack by Russian forces.'

The red frame in the image below (reposted) is Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan in the Russian Federation, and Grozny is the capital of the Chechen Republic ('Chechnya' on the map).

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in Vehicle,   Video, Posted by log1l_ks