An Azerbaijani minister claimed on Friday that an airplane that crashed this week was attacked by a weapon, citing professional analysis and survivor evidence that the jet was shot from the outside.
Rashad Nabiyev's remarks increased pressure on Russia. Officials in Moscow have stated that a drone assault was ongoing in the location where the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft was bound, but they have not responded to allegations from aviation experts who blamed the disaster on Russian air defenses responding to a Ukrainian strike.
On Wednesday, the jet was traveling from Baku, the city of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the regional capital of Russia's Chechnya, when it diverted toward Kazakhstan and crashed while attempting to land. The crash killed 38 persons and wounded all 29 survivors.
Nabiyev, Azerbaijan's minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that "preliminary conclusions by experts point to external impact," citing witness evidence.
“The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” Nabiyev said.
Two passengers and one crew member who survived the crash told Reuters that they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia.
“After the bang…I thought the plane was going to fall apart,” Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers, told Reuters from hospital.
He said he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing the bang.
“It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way,” he said. “It was as if it was drunk—not the same plane anymore.”
Another passenger on the plane said that she also heard a loud bang.
“I was very scared,” said Vafa Shabanova, adding that there was also a second bang.
A flight attendant then advised her to go to the back of the plane.
Both passengers reported that there appeared to be an issue with the oxygen levels in the cabin following the noise.
Flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov stated that landing in Grozny was disallowed due to fog, thus the captain circled, resulting in booms outside the plane.
“The pilot had just lifted the plan up when I heard a bang from the left wing. There were three bangs,” he said.
Something smashed into his left arm. The cabin lost pressure.
Beyond the tragedy of the catastrophe, the passengers' first-person accounts provide insight into what may have caused the calamity.
Dmitry Yadrov, chairman of Russia's civil aviation regulator Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the jet was ready to land in Grozny in dense fog, Ukrainian drones targeted the city, leading officials to restrict the airspace.
Yadrov stated that after two unsuccessful attempts to land, the captain was offered alternative airports but chose to fly to Aktau, Kazakhstan, across the Caspian Sea.
However, he did not respond to allegations made by certain aviation experts, who stated that holes found in the plane's tail portion proved that it had been targeted by Russian air defense systems.
Drones from Ukraine have already targeted Grozny and other places in the country's North Caucasus.
Azerbaijan Airlines stopped a number of flights to Russian locations on Friday, citing "physical and technical external interference" as the reason of the tragedy. It didn't explain what the interference was.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, declined to comment on accusations that the jet was hit by Russian air defenses, stating that investigations will establish the reason of the incident.
Azerbaijani investigators are in Grozny as part of the investigation into Wednesday's crash, according to a statement from the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office.
Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air also said on Friday that it will cease flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for one month.
FlyDubai has also delayed flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia for the next several days.
The day before, Israel's El Al airline canceled flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow, citing "developments in Russia's airspace." The airline stated that it will evaluate the situation next week.
