Disaster in Azerbaijan: the airline praises the pilots who died, 29 passengers survived

• An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, including both pilots.
• Interestingly, almost half of the passengers – 29 people – survived.
• In a conversation with reporters, the airline’s president praised the “heroism” of the pilots and crew.

The president of Azerbaijan Airlines praised the pilots of flight J2-8243 after the plane, which had 67 people on board, crashed IN Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Although the two pilots were among the 38 fatalities reported by Kazakh authorities, almost half of the passengers – 29 people – survived.

Samir Rzayev, head of the airline also known as AZAL, told reporters on Wednesday that “the heroism of the two pilots will never be forgotten.”

“Although this tragic accident brought significant losses to our nation, the crew’s courageous commitment to perform their duties until the last moment and giving priority to human life immortalized their names in history,” said Rzajew, – reports the Azerbaijani news agency Report.

Rzajew said the pilots had logged more than 15,000 hours in total and the plane had recently undergone a technical inspection.

“Despite these measures, the causes of the incident are still under investigation,” Rzajew added.

The Embraer 190 the jet left Baku, Azerbaijan, early Wednesday morning and was bound for Grozny, Russia.

Bad weather conditions caused a change in driving direction, – the airline reported to BBC News. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows that the plane crashed at approximately 06:28 local time near Aktau, Kazakhstan.

Speaker of the Senate of Kazakhstan Ashimbayev Maulen told Reuters on Thursday that the cause of the crash remained unknown.

Preliminary information from the Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia shows that the plane turned back after hitting a bird, which caused a failure on board, according to AP.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against speculation about the causes of the crash before the investigation is completed: – reported Russian state media RIA Novosti.

However, Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Counteracting Disinformation, blamed Russia for the situation. On Wednesday evening he declared post X that commercial airlines were “shot down by a Russian air defense system.”

In the post, he stated that there was video footage from inside the plane showing “pierced life jackets and other damage.”

Others also suggested Russia’s involvement.

Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security company, he told The Wall Street Journal. on Thursday that the plane may have been damaged by a Russian anti-missile system. The company cited footage of the crash, visible damage to the plane and recent military activity in the area.

“Incidents involving misidentification and downing of civilian airliners by air defense systems are not unprecedented in the region,” reads a critical warning issued by Osprey and provided to Business Insider.

Oliver Alexander, an OSINT analyst, said in a message to BI that “at this point I don’t think there is enough evidence available to conclusively say what exactly happened (type of missile, etc.).”

But he added that “all the evidence I have seen indicates that the plane was hit by anti-aircraft missile fragments, which severely damaged the elevator and rudder controls.”

Ukrainian drones have been attacking Grozny in recent weeks, said the governor of Russia’s North Ossetia region post on Telegram on Wednesday that Ukrainian drone strikes were carried out in multiple regions of the North Caucasus Federal District that day.

The commune includes Grozny and the surrounding area.

The post clearly mentioned the downing of a drone in Vladikavka, about 120 km west of Grozny.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement: “Videos of the plane crash are available in the media and on social media and everyone can watch them. However, the causes of the disaster are not yet known to us.”

Azerbaijan Airlines did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

The airline’s president, Rzayev, told reporters that the plane’s black box had been found and “its analysis is being carried out in accordance with international aviation standards.”

Embraer aircraft manufacturer – wrote in the statement that it is “deeply saddened” by the crash and is working closely with the relevant authorities to support the investigation.