An Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, had requested an emergency landing before the incident occurred. The flight, en route from Baku to Grozny, Russia, was diverted due to fog in Grozny. The Kazakh transport ministry confirmed, “A plane doing the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the city of Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines.”
The Embraer 190 aircraft made an initial emergency landing attempt about three kilometers from Aktau, located on the Caspian Sea’s eastern shore. Social media videos showed the plane rapidly descending and erupting into flames upon impact.
BREAKING: Azerbaijan Airlines flight traveling from Baku to Grozny crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after reportedly requesting an emergency landing pic.twitter.com/hB5toqEFe2
— RT (@RT_com) December 25, 2024
Preliminary reports indicate that 32 people have been rescued, with survivors seen exiting the plane through the rear emergency exit. Ambulances were also observed arriving at the site. The survivors are being treated at a nearby hospital, with 14, including five in intensive care, receiving medical attention.
Flight tracking site FlightRadar24 indicated that the aircraft, which was flying over the Caspian Sea and approaching Chechnya, circled near the airport and requested an emergency landing. The crash occurred at 6:28 am UTC (11:58 am local time), just a few kilometers from the airport. Additionally, FlightRadar24 noted that the aircraft experienced “strong GPS jamming, which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data.”
Flight #J28243 that crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan is an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190 with registration 4K-AZ65.#J28243 took off from Baku at 03:55 UTC time and was flying to Grozny. The aircraft was exposed to strong GPS jamming which made the aircraft… pic.twitter.com/rM1Q0jmMPt
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 25, 2024
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation.
