Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airways airplane that crashed in Kazakhstan reported listening to thuds and explosions from outdoors the plane throughout the flight, as the reason for the lethal disaster stays below investigation.
The Azerbaijan Airways passenger plane crashed close to Kazakhstan’s Aktau Airport on Wednesday morning, killing 38 of the 67 folks on board, Kazakh officers stated.
Emergency specialists work on the crash web site of an Azerbaijan Airways passenger jet close to the western Kazakh metropolis of Aktau on Dec. 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP by way of Getty Photos
An Azeri crew member who survived the crash instructed ABC Information in a cellphone name from his hospital room on Friday that he heard three thuds as they have been flying over Grozny, Russia. He stated he believes the noises got here from outdoors the airplane.
The crew member, who didn’t present his title as crew members haven’t been licensed to talk with the media, stated he sustained accidents to his left arm within the crash.
“I do not know what touched me, I simply regarded and noticed blood,” he stated.
He was hospitalized in Aktau however has since been transferred to a hospital in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The plane was flying from Baku to Grozny however could not land on account of heavy fog, in keeping with the crew member. The flight was rerouted to Aktau in Kazakhstan when it crashed whereas making an attempt to land.
A passenger instructed Reuters from his hospital mattress that he heard a bang, noticed oxygen masks falling down and that the fuselage was broken. He stated he initially thought the airplane was going to disintegrate and began praying.
“It was apparent that the airplane had been broken indirectly,” the passenger, Subhonkul Rakhimov, instructed Reuters. “It was as if it was drunk — not the identical airplane anymore.”
Rakhimov stated he was “thrown backwards and forwards” whereas strapped in after which it was quiet, at which level he realized that they’d landed.
One other passenger instructed Reuters she felt “two explosions” about 20 or half-hour after takeoff.
Airport floor workers and medics help Azerbaijani residents, who survived the crash of the Azerbaijan Airways’ Embraer 190 passenger jet close to the western Kazakh metropolis of Aktau, upon arrival at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev Worldwide Airport on Dec. 26, 2024.
Stringer/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Azerbaijan’s transport minister stated Friday that passengers and flight attendants on the airplane heard explosions “from outdoors, after which one thing touched the airplane” over Grozny, per native media.
Each Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan authorities are investigating the crash. The trigger continues to be being decided, however a number of sources level to potential Russian involvement.
White Home nationwide safety communications adviser John Kirby instructed reporters Friday that there are “early indications” that the airplane might have been introduced down by Russian air protection programs, however he added that the investigation is ongoing.
A high-level Azeri authorities supply instructed ABC Information on Thursday that there’s new proof rising that the airplane might have been shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
The airplane was flying over an space the place Moscow’s air protection has battled Ukrainian drones not too long ago.
Movies and images of the airplane after the crash present bullet holes in components of the airplane.
“Preliminary skilled opinions point out the presence of outdoor interference,” Rashad Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital improvement and transport, stated Friday. “That is evidenced by the looks of the airplane’s wreckage on the bottom and eyewitness testimonies.”
Azerbaijan Airways additionally stated Friday the preliminary outcomes of the investigation present the crash was on account of “bodily and technical exterior interference.”
The Kremlin declined to touch upon the matter till the investigation into the crash is accomplished.
“The investigation into the air accident is ongoing. And we don’t assume now we have a proper to present any assessments and won’t achieve this till conclusions are drawn primarily based on the outcomes of the investigation,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov instructed journalists on Friday. “We have now our personal aviation authorities that may do it, and this info might come solely from them.”
The top of Russia’s federal air transport company, Dmitry Yadrov, shifted potential blame onto Ukraine for the crash.
“The state of affairs within the Grozny Airport space was fairly difficult on that day and at these hours. Ukrainian drones have been conducting terrorist assaults on civilian infrastructure in Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov stated Friday, in keeping with state media.
Emergency specialists work on the crash web site of an Azerbaijan Airways passenger jet close to the western Kazakh metropolis of Aktau, Dec. 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Azerbaijan Airways has briefly suspended flights from Baku to 10 Russian cities “on account of bodily and technical exterior interference and considers potential dangers to flight security,” the airline stated on Friday.
“The suspension will stay in impact till the completion of the ultimate investigation,” it added.
A number of different airways, together with El Al, Flydubai and Qazaq Air, have additionally suspended flights to numerous Russian cities within the wake of the crash.
ABC Information’ Tomek Rolski, Michelle Stoddart and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
