Kazakhstan Nears Final Report on Fatal Azerbaijan Airlines Crash Probe

The investigation is currently summarizing findings, with the involvement of an international commission. Preliminary findings have been received from equipment manufacturers, including GPS trackers, navigation systems, and the aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, Bozumbayev said.

The commission includes representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, as well as specialists from the aircraft manufacturer and international aviation organizations, Bozumbayev added, Xinhua news agency reported.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024, with 62 passengers and five crew members on board.

Thirty-eight people were killed in the crash, and 29 were rescued, according to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had offered his apologies to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev that the incident with the AZAL airliner occurred in Russia's airspace and conveyed his condolences to the families of the plane crash victims.

"Vladimir Putin offered his apologies that the tragic incident had occurred in Russia's airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the plane crash victims and wished those injured the quickest recovery," the press office said in a statement, TASS news agency reported, quoting the Kremlin press office on December 28, 2024.

Russia and Ukraine had put the blame on each other for the plane crash. Chief of Russia's civil aviation authority Dmitry Yadrov had said, "Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure... at the time," adding that the plane made two unsuccessful attempts to land.

Ukraine had stuck to claiming Russia's involvement and said, "Russia must be held responsible for the downing of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane."

The aircraft with flight number J2-8243 crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh media had said then that passengers aboard included 37 citizens from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan.

The initial cause of the tragedy appeared to be a bird strike.

The aircraft took off from Baku 11 minutes ahead of schedule. While flying over the Caspian Sea, it issued an emergency signal.

Azerbaijani media reported that the aircraft was unable to obtain permission to land in Grozny due to fog, leading it to be redirected to Makhachkala and later to Aktau.

Online flight tracking apps showed the plane flying over the Caspian Sea and heading towards its destination in Chechnya. As the plane entered Russia's territorial borders, it started circling near the airport. Following this, it requested an emergency landing.

At 6:28 a.m. local time, the plane crashed a few kilometres away from the airport.

According to FlightRadar24, the plane was exposed to "strong GPS jamming, which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data."

- IANS