Azerbaijan Airlines announces preliminary cause of the Embraer 190 crash
Kyiv • UNN
Azerbaijan Airlines claims “external interference” as the cause of the Embraer 190 crash. On December 28, the company suspends flights to 10 cities in Russia due to possible security risks.
According to preliminary results , the crash of the Embraer 190 plane, which crashed on December 25 on a flight from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Chechnya), was caused by "external interference," according to the airline Azerbaijan Airlines. Meanwhile, the company suspends flights to 10 Russian cities starting tomorrow. UNN reports this with reference to Reuters and Report.
Details
Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday that preliminary results of an investigation showed that the plane experienced "external physical and technical obstacles" before crashing in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
AZAL Airlines suspends flights from Baku to a number of Russian cities. The decision was made by the State Civil Aviation Agency of Azerbaijan, taking into account the results of a preliminary investigation into the crash, as well as possible risks to flight safety.
Starting December 28, 2024, and until the final investigation is completed, AZAL will suspend flights to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, and Samara.
Back on December 25, the airline announced the cancellation of flights to Grozny and Makhachkala after the crash of an Embraer plane.
Addendum
After the Embraer plane crashed near Aktau, Russia claimed that the pilot was offered other airports to land at, but decided to go to Aktau.
The head of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Dmitry Yadrov said in a statement on the crash that "in connection with the crash of the Embraer plane near Aktau, the Russian side immediately informed its Kazakh and Azerbaijani colleagues of its full and comprehensive readiness to cooperate in the investigation of this tragedy. It is necessary to thoroughly and fully verify all the circumstances of the incident. I would note that the situation on that day and at those hours in the vicinity of Grozny airport was extremely difficult. Ukrainian combat drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz at that time."
According to him, because of this, the "Carpet" regime was introduced in the vicinity of Grozny airport, which provided for the immediate withdrawal of all aircraft from this space.
"In addition, thick fog was observed at an altitude of 500 meters in the vicinity of Grozny airport. The commander made two unsuccessful attempts to land the plane. The commander was offered other airports. He decided to proceed to Aktau airport. There are many different circumstances that need to be jointly investigated. We are fully prepared for this work, in cooperation with our colleagues," Yadrov said.
Recall
There were 62 passengers on board, including 37 citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 citizens of Russia, 6 citizens of Kazakhstan, and 3 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, as well as five crew members. As a result of the accident, 38 passengers died and 29 survived.
