Air Crash: Accident or Sabotage?

This morning, an AZAL passenger plane, operating the Baku-Grozny flight, crashed.

According to AZAL, there were 62 passengers and 5 crew members aboard the crashed passenger plane, a total of 67 people.

The passengers on board included 16 citizens of Russia, 37 citizens of Azerbaijan, 6 citizens of Kazakhstan, and 3 citizens of Kyrgyzstan.

According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Health, 14 survivors of the AZAL plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau are citizens of Azerbaijan, 10 are from Russia, and 2 are from Kyrgyzstan. The citizenship of three survivors has not been established.

As reported by the representative of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan, Kyanan Zeynalov, at a briefing regarding the crashed AZAL plane near Aktau, the current information indicates that 32 people are alive and receiving treatment.

A criminal case has been opened in the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the crash of the AZAL plane near Aktau.

President Ilham Aliyev cut short his visit to Moscow, where he was attending the CIS summit, and returned to Azerbaijan due to the plane crash near Aktau. By the president's order, December 26 was declared a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.

At a meeting regarding the air disaster, President Ilham Aliyev stated that he had discussed the incident with Prime Minister Ali Asadov, and under his leadership, a commission had been formed.

"According to the information provided to me, the AZAL aircraft, flying from Baku to Grozny, changed its course due to worsening weather and headed towards Aktau airport, where the accident occurred during landing. The moments of the crash are in the media and on social networks, so everyone can see it. However, the reasons for the crash are unknown to us. There are different versions. I believe it is too early to talk about this. The issue must be fully investigated. The General Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case, and of course, the public of Azerbaijan will be regularly informed both about the results of the commission’s work and the progress of the criminal case," said the president.

Security expert Ilham Ismail shares his thoughts on the air crash during the program "Complex Question." He stated that sabotage is unlikely and noted that the lack of precise information raises various questions. Addressing the spread rumors on social media about the possibility of the AZAL aircraft being struck by Ukrainian drones, Ismail said that this is most likely a product of Russian anti-Ukrainian propaganda.

"Kamikaze drones have specific targets. They are used to strike military objects, and civilian aircraft are not their targets," he explained.

The expert also noted that the holes found in the plane's fuselage do not resemble the damage caused by drones. According to him, the primary task of the investigation is to determine the cause of the crash. Then, it must be established whether the decision made with the pilots was correct.

"The investigation will reveal all this after reviewing the 'black box' and questioning the surviving passengers," said Ismail, adding that the explosion occurred outside the aircraft, not inside.

The expert also pointed out that, given the closed land borders, the load on AZAL has sharply increased, and therefore, the technical inspection of its fleet should be carried out with particular meticulousness.