A Russian surface-to-air missile was responsible for the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, which killed 38 passengers, Azerbaijani media reports.
Azerbaijani officials cited by the Baku-based news agency AnewZ said preliminary findings suggest the missile was fired from a Russian Pantsir-S defence system as the plane approached Grozny in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on Wednesday morning, December 25.
GPS jamming, previously reported by Flight Radar 24, caused the aircraft to lose communication with air traffic control while flying over Russian territory, the officials added.
Chechnya and surrounding North Caucasus regions were targeted by drone strikes early Wednesday. AnewZ said that, under such conditions, Russian authorities were required to close airspace to civilian aircraft, but for unknown reasons, this was not done.
Kadyrov Grozny International Airport initially blamed the plane’s rerouting over the Caspian Sea on thick fog. After regaining communication, the plane reappeared on radar at a low altitude before it eventually went down in western Kazakhstan.
AnewZ reported that the plane was denied permission to land at airports in Grozny and nearby regions after it was fired upon by air defence systems. It subsequently attempted to divert to western Kazakhstan before crashing near the city of Aktau, an oil and gas hub.
Azerbaijan Airlines said there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board. Kazakh officials, who are also investigating the causes of the crash, said 38 people had been k!lled and there were 29 survivors, including three children.