An Embraer (EMBR3.SA) passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people after diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks. Twenty-nine survivors received hospital treatment.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Azerbaijan to Russia and crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Russia’s aviation watchdog stated that the emergency may have been caused by a bird strike, although an aviation expert suggested this cause seemed unlikely.
Officials did not immediately explain why the plane had crossed the sea, but the crash occurred after Ukrainian drone strikes this month hit the Chechnya region of southern Russia. The nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path had been closed on Wednesday morning.
Kyiv has not acknowledged any strikes this month on the Chechen city of Grozny, where the flight was headed. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said that, according to information he had received, the plane changed course due to poor weather. However, he added that the cause of the crash was unknown and must be fully investigated.
“This is a great tragedy that has become a tremendous sorrow for the Azerbaijani people,” he said.
Video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore, with thick black smoke rising afterward. Bloodied and bruised passengers were seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.
