Passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashes in Kazakhstan with many feared dead

An Embraer passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying that 27 people had survived.

Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.

The Central Asian country's emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that the survivors, including three children, were being treated at a nearby hospital.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.

Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.

תיעוד נוסף של התרסקות מטוס הנוסעים@AlexNirenburg @RamEliBrandts https://t.co/oJariHW36A pic.twitter.com/3tw3J74G39

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 25, 2024

Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed "condolences" to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, the people of Azerbaijan, and the "families of all nationalities who have lost their loved ones" following the crash on X/Twitter Wednesday. "I pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured," he added. 

I was very saddened by the terrible tragedy of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane from Baku which has crashed near Aktau this morning. I send my deepest condolences to @PresidentAz Ilham Aliyev, the people of Azerbaijan, and the families of all nationalities who have lost their loved…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 25, 2024

Earlier in December, Herzog met with Aliyev's assistant in Israel, according to a statement from the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Israel on X. They discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries, as well as regional developments.

Authorities remain unclear as to the cause of the damage

Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

Russia's aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

However, later reports in Israeli media indicate that authorities are exploring the possibility that the plane was hit by fire from a Russian anti-aircraft system. According to the reports, the pilots' distress call came at a time when Russia's air defense systems were busy intercepting drones from Ukraine, over Chechnya, the original destination of the plane that was diverted from its course for an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

Following the crash, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, was returning home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit on Wednesday, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, expressed his condolences in a statement and said those being treated in the hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery.

Flights suspended

Azerbaijan Airlines is suspending all its flights from Baku to Russia's Chechnya region until an investigation into a fatal crash involving one of its planes is finished, Russia's state TASS news agency cited the company saying on Wednesday.

An Embraer passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying 32 survivors had been rescued.