An Azerbaijani airliner has crashed in Kazakhstan after being diverted, killing 38 of 67 folks on board. Some consultants alleged that the airplane went down after being hit by Russian air protection techniques.
Some issues to know in regards to the crash and the hypothesis a couple of potential trigger:
How did the airplane crash?
Azerbaijan Airways’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian metropolis of Grozny within the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for causes that aren’t absolutely clear but. It crashed whereas attempting to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east throughout the Caspian Sea.
The airplane went down close to the coast about 3 kilometers (round 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating on-line appeared to indicate the plane making a steep descent earlier than hitting the bottom and exploding in a fireball.
Rescuers have rushed 29 individuals who survived the crash to hospitals.
How did Azerbaijan react?
Azerbaijan noticed a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday. Nationwide flags have been lowered throughout the nation, visitors throughout the nation stopped at midday, and indicators have been sounded from ships and trains.
What do they are saying a couple of potential trigger?
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities say they’re investigating the crash. Embraer instructed The Related Press in an announcement that the corporate is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, mentioned that preliminary data indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a chook strike led to an emergency on board.
Some consultants alleged that the holes seen within the airplane’s tail part pictured after the crash probably point out that it may have come below hearth from Russian air protection techniques warding off a Ukrainian drone assault.
Mark Zee of OPSGroup, which displays the world’s airspace and airports for dangers, mentioned that the evaluation of the fragments of the crashed airplane point out with a 90-99% chance that it was hit by a surface-to-air missile
Osprey Flight Options, an aviation safety agency based mostly in the UK, warned its purchasers that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.”
Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson mentioned that the corporate had issued greater than 200 alerts concerning drone assaults and air protection techniques in Russia in the course of the battle.
In Azerbaijan, Caliber on-line newpspaper claimed that the airliner was fired upon by a Russian Pantsyr-S air protection system because it was approaching Grozny. It questioned why Russian authorities failed to shut the airport regardless of the drone assault within the space on Wednesday, and why they didn’t permit the airplane to land in Grozny or different Russian airports close by after it was hit.
Requested Thursday in regards to the claims that the airplane had been fired upon by air protection belongings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”
Officers in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have equally averted touch upon a potential explanation for the crash, saying it will likely be as much as investigators to find out it.