Azerbaijan Airlines has referred to “physical and technical external interference” as a possible reason behind the crash of its passenger plane in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
The operator of the aircraft made the announcement on Friday, saying it is based on the preliminary results of the investigation into the incident, which left 38 people dead.
The aircraft carrying 67 people went down near an airport in Aktau, a city in western Kazakhstan. It had departed from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, heading for Grozny in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
An Azerbaijani media outlet has cited government sources as blaming the crash on the misuse of Russian air defense systems.
The Russian aviation authorities said in a statement that Ukrainian drones were carrying out attacks in Grozny at the time when the plane was trying to land, as scheduled. But no mention was made of Russian air defense systems.
Reuters news agency quoted people who were on the plane as saying they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its destination of Grozny. One person said, “It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way.”
In the US, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby touched on the issue with reporters on Friday.
He said the US government has seen “some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.”
He added that the US has offered its assistance to the investigation, which is being jointly conducted by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.