Russia Blamed For Downing Azerbaijan Airlines Plane

Embraer E-190 Was Hundreds Of Miles Off Course

Ukraine is placing blame on Russia for downing an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Embraer E-190 with 67 passengers and crew on board, with the number of deaths standing at 38 as of December 25. The airliner went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after Ukrainian drone strikes in southern Russia.

The aircraft was enroute from Baku in eastern Azerbaijan to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia, when it went down on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea, hundreds of miles from where it should have been. Without explaining why it was so far off course, some officials said drone strikes had hit southern Russia and several airports along the aircraft’s flight path had been closed.

The UK-based aviation security firm Osprey Flight Solutions said the flight was “likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.”

Matt Borie, Osprey’s chief intelligence officer said, “Video of the wreckage and the circumstances around the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicates the possibility the aircraft was hit by some form of antiaircraft fire.”

The aviation security team from Russia said that it may have been caused by a bird strike.

Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian national security official, said in a social media post that there were holes in the remaining parts of the fuselage and a video of the interior showed punctured life vests and other damage.

Kovalenko also said, “Russia should have closed the airspace over Grozny but failed to do so. The plane was damaged by the Russians and was sent to Kazakhstan instead of being urgently landed in Grozny to save lives.

Video showed the aircraft descending at a rapid rate of speed before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore with thick black smoke rising from the site.

Neither of those explanations makes complete sense. It’s hard to believe a bird strike made an airliner fly about 45 degrees off course and go down 200 miles in the opposite direction of its intended destination. It’s also hard to believe the Russians would divert an airliner the same distance after sustaining anti-aircraft damage.

FMI:  www.azal.az/