Several airlines have halted flights to Russian cities after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after reportedly being hit by Russia’s anti-aircraft system over Grozny.  

As of Friday, December 27, Azerbaijan Airlines had suspended flights to seven cities in Russia, citing “safety risks” amid the ongoing investigations into the Wednesday plane crash, which killed more than half of its occupants and left dozens nursing injuries.

The cities affected by the initial flight cancellation included Grozny, Sochi, Volgograd, Makhachkala, Ufa, Mineralnye Vody, and Samara. On Saturday, December 28, the airline added three more cities: Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladikavkaz, bringing the total to 10.  

Other airlines, including UAE airline Flydubai, Turkmenistan Airlines, Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air, and Israeli airline El Al, have also suspended flights to some Russian cities amid the ongoing investigations into Wednesday's crash.

The Crash

According to earlier reports, the devastating plane accident occurred on the morning of December 25 when Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 aircraft with flight registration J2-8243 flying from Baku to Grozny crashed near Kazakhstan’s city of Aktau with 62 passengers and five crew on board.   

The tragic incident claimed 38 lives, including two pilots and a flight attendant, leaving 29 survivors who received treatment for their injuries. Most of the passengers on the plane were Azerbaijani nationals, while the rest were from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

While preliminary investigations into the cause of the crash revealed physical and technical external interference as the likely cause of the disastrous incident, multiple sources claimed the flight was likely shot down by Russia’s air defense system.

However, Moscow has not yet issued an official report concerning the incident, claiming it was too early to give a report as the investigations were still underway.

Events Leading to the Crash

Data from a flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed the ill-fated plane took off from Azerbaijan’s capital city (Baku) at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday on a scheduled flight to Russia’s city of Grozny, located in Chechnya.

However, the pilot could not land at Grozny due to heavy fog, so the aircraft was diverted to Aktau Airport on the other side of the Caspian Sea. The plane crashed at 06:28 GMT, just 3 kilometers off the runway, and burst into flames upon impact. 

Preliminary reports by Reuters news agency suggested the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile system stationed at Grozny, which was actively countering Ukrainian attack drones that targeted the area.

As reported by BBC on Friday, the survivors interviewed by a Russian TV blamed the crash on damage caused by the plane over Grozny. According to their account, the plane encountered a thick fog when approaching Grozny, which made the planned landing difficult.

One survivor told Russian TV the pilot tried to land at their destination twice without success. During the third attempt, multiple explosions hit the ill-fated aircraft, blowing out parts of its skin.

A flight attendant who survived the incident also gave a similar account, adding that the strikes caused panic among passengers and injured her arm. The survivor's accounts made it clear there was an external interference, which was also consistent with the perforations witnessed on the plane’s wreckage.

After multiple explosions over Grozny, Flight J2-8243 diverted east to Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport, located some 280 miles (450km) off its initial destination. This was far longer, considering several other options that could have been used during the incident.

With both pilots killed in the crash, it’s still not yet clear why they opted to fly that far with a damaged plane.

According to data released by Flight Radar, a flight-tracking website, the aircraft showed irregular up-and-down movements as it approached Aktau airport before making a steep descent and crashing a few kilometers from the airport’s runway. 

In a viral eyewitness video, the plane is seen descending quickly through the air before busting into plumes of smoke on impact with the ground and skidding a few hundred meters before stopping.

Most of the passengers who survived are said to have sat at the rear part of the fuselage, which appeared intact even after the crash.

Did Russia Shoot Down Flight J2-8243?

While earlier reports by Russia's state TV indicated the crash was likely caused by a collision with a flock of birds, many experts quickly dismissed the claim due to more evidence suggesting shrapnel damage before the crash. 

A US official who spoke to CNN on Thursday, December 24, 2024, said the aircraft was likely shot down by Russia’s anti-aircraft weaponry, citing the damage on the side of the plane as some of the dead giveaways.

According to the official, the anti-aircraft system misidentified the passenger jet as a potential aerial threat, mistaking it for a Ukrainian long-range strike drone. Reuters also reported that the passenger jet was hit by Russia’s anti-aircraft system known as Pantsir-S, citing unnamed Azerbaijani sources who were privy to the investigation.

On Friday, White House spokesperson John Kirby also told reporters that early indications showed Russia was responsible for the downing of the passenger jet, but he did not give more details.

The news about the crash sparked mourning across Azerbaijan, with vigils held in honour of the pilots and loved ones lost in the unfortunate incident. Officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have called for investigations into the events that led to the crash, with Azerbaijan preferring more serious and transparent investigations into the incident. 

According to sources cited by BBC News, Azerbaijan has demanded an international inquiry into the plane crash as opposed to a special committee from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was preferred by Russia and Kazakhstan.

On Saturday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin tendered an apology to Azerbaijan's president over the incident that occurred while the plane was in Russian airspace before the crash. He described it as a “tragic incident” without saying his country was responsible for downing the plane.