“The crash of the Azerbaijani plane: the main questions – BBC December 27, 16:56 Share: After the fall, the tail part of the plane survived (Photo: Reuters) After the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines airliner in Kazakhstan, there are still several important circumstances that need clarification, writes Pavlo Aksyonov. BBC. NV.ua publishes this material as part of an information partnership. After the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines airliner in Kazakhstan, several important circumstances still remain, which”, — write on: ua.news
Azerbaijan plane crash: key issues – BBC After the fall, the tail part of the plane survived (Photo: Reuters)
After the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines airliner in Kazakhstan, there are still several important circumstances that need clarification, writes Pavlo Aksyonov, BBC. NV.ua publishes this material as part of an information partnership.
After the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines airliner in Kazakhstan, there are still several important circumstances that need to be clarified.
On Wednesday, December 25, Embraer E190 operated flight J28243 from Baku to Grozny. Judging by the passengers’ comments, after two incomplete approaches to landing on the third, they heard a loud sound similar to an explosion.
After that, the plane became difficult to control, flew to the Kazakh city of Aktau on the coast of the Caspian Sea, where it crashed into the ground, fell apart and burst into flames.
There were 67 people on board, 38 of them died. Both pilots were among the dead.
The version that the plane came under fire from an anti-aircraft installation in the Grozny region is gaining popularity, and it was damaged.
Reuters sources in Azerbaijan, in particular familiar with the preliminary results of the investigation into the disaster, say that this version is the most likely, it is shared in the country, and there they are waiting for Russia to make an official statement.
“No one claims that they did it on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects that the Russian side will recognize the downing of the Azerbaijani plane,” the source of the agency said.
ReutersHowever, on Thursday, the spokesman of the Russian president, Dmytro Peskov, asked journalists “not to build any hypotheses before the conclusions of the investigation.”
The Russian mass media consider other versions – a collision with birds or problems on board.
The BBC has collected questions about the disaster, for which there are currently no definitive answers.
Was the Azerbaijani airliner fired upon?
This is the main question about this plane crash. The nature of the damage to the tail part, which survived the fall, speaks in favor of the shelling version.
On the planes of the keel and the height rudder, numerous holes are clearly visible, similar to those that are formed as a result of hitting elements of the warhead of an anti-aircraft missile.
In addition, the surviving passengers say they heard an explosion.
One of them, Subhonkul Rakhimov, told RT that the pilots tried to land the plane three times in Grozny, but “the third time something exploded”: “There was an explosion – I wouldn’t say inside the plane. Where I was sitting, the paneling next to me flew away.”
Was Grozny airport closed?
Judging by reports in the Russian press and the official Telegram channel of Rosaviatsia spokesman Artem Korenyak, on the night of December 25, the authorities closed the Kazan airport due to a threat from Ukrainian drones.
In the morning, the Russian military reported that they shot down 59 drones over the Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk and Tambov regions, as well as the Sea of Azov.
Drones were also reported over Grozny, in the Ingush city of Malgobek and in Vladikavkaz.
However, there were no reports of the closure of these airports in Russian news agencies and Artem Korenyak’s Telegram channel.
ReutersRegnum Agency reports the words of the General Director of Grozny Airport “Northern” Alvi Shahgiriev, who stated that the Azerbaijani plane could not land due to fog and low cloud cover, and the plan ““Carpet” was introduced already after it flew.
“This plane left us even before the implementation of the “Carpet” plan. He entered the zone of our airport and tried to land three times, but could not land due to bad weather conditions – due to fog and low cloud cover, he could not land. The commander of the aircraft himself made the decision to go to the alternate airfield. Then he changed his mind and applied to Aktau,” the agency quotes the director as saying.
He did not say anything about the work of air defense and downed drones, but his statement about the introduction of the plan “Kilim” is not confirmed by other sources.
“Kilim” is announced if unwanted flying objects are spotted in the sky or there is a threat of the appearance of such objects.
In this case, all aircraft that are in the area where such a plan is implemented are obliged to leave it and go either to alternate airfields or wait in another area. In addition, flights are canceled at airports.
The second important question that needs to be answered is whether the airfield and airspace were blocked at the time when the air defense was operating in Grozny? What means were used against drones?
On the video recording of the damage of one of them, the incoming missile is not visible, but the recording is not very clear.
The Telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU reported that it had received a transcript of the crew’s negotiations with the dispatcher in Grozny. The channel claims that the plane tried to land in Grozny three times, but could not do so due to the work of the EW and decided to return to Baku.
After that, the channel wrote, the crew reported on “bird strike’ and control failure.
The control, judging by the subsequent trajectory of the plane, really failed – at least partially.
If the airport was not closed, it means that there is no effective drone strike warning system in the region.
And if the civilian airport continued to operate, why was it allowed to open fire on air targets?
If the airport was closed, it will be necessary to explain how the airliner with passengers could be in the air defense zone.
Why did the plane leave for Aktau
What happened to the plane after the disappearance of its mark in the Flightradar24 service and before it appeared over the Caspian Sea can be learned from the stories of the surviving passengers, as well as from the text that got into the network, which allegedly contains part of the crew’s conversation with the controller in Grozny
After the incident, which the passengers described as an explosion and the crew described as a loss of control after a collision with birds, the plane flew in the direction of Aktau.
ReutersAlvi Shahgiriyev told the Regnum agency that the crew initially wanted to fly to Baku, and then changed the direction to Aktau – this information confirms the report of the Cheka-OGPU.
The text of the conversation with the dispatcher who posted this feed contains requests from the crew about weather conditions at other airports.
In this text, the crew first asks about the situation at the airport in the city of Mineralnye Vody, and then says that they are going to Makhachkala.
At the same time, the crew reports a new malfunction — a failure of the hydraulics involved in steering. After some time, the plane contacted the dispatcher in Rostov-on-Don, according to the text published by the Telegram channel.
It is not known exactly what happened next, there is no information about the plane’s attempts to land at other airports. Around, in addition to the mentioned airports of Makhachkala and Mineralnye Vody, there are airports in Vladikavkaz, Nalchik and Nazran.
However, the aircraft commander, who chooses where to land the aircraft in such a situation, preferred to fly across the Caspian Sea to Aktau, which was 400 kilometers away.
Why he chose this route is also unknown.
Euronews, citing sources in the Azerbaijani government, reports that, in their opinion, the damaged plane was not allowed to land at Russian airports, despite requests from the crew to allow an emergency landing.
This is contrary to practice. Usually, the pilot-in-command chooses the landing place, and an aircraft in distress is not denied such an opportunity.
Flight J28243: Did the balloon explode?
Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister Marat Karabayev said at a briefing on Thursday that an oxygen cylinder exploded on board the airliner before landing. According to him, this happened after the Rostov dispatchers handed over the liner to the dispatchers in Aktau.
10 minutes later, at 10:53 local time ““The Rostov flight controller reported additional information to the Aktau flight controller that an oxygen cylinder had exploded in the passenger cabin, people were fainting, and asked for resuscitation upon arrival,” the minister said.
The message with reference to the words of the Kazakh minister was spread by Russian news agencies, which did not mention the version with the attack on the plane from the ground.
If there really was such an explosion, it is not yet known how much of a negative impact it could have had on the control system.
By the time the plane mark appeared on the Flightradar24 map, it was over the sea and heading towards Aktau.
Judging by the data of the service, the board constantly changed the height and direction of flight. This could be due to failure of the control systems.
In the tail, which is responsible, in particular, for the climb and descent, the photographs show numerous small holes, and the airliner could have lost control due to this damage.
The trajectory of the last minutes of the flight shows how the pilots tried to land at the Aktau airport, they did not succeed, and they tried to land again.
They could not complete the second approach – the plane fell to the ground.
Investigation of the plane crash in Kazakhstan
The government commission of Kazakhstan is conducting the investigation into the plane crash. A message on the government’s website states that Kazakhstan is cooperating with Azerbaijan.
Usually, representatives of the country where the accident happened, the state whose plane was involved, and representatives of the country that produced the plane participate in the investigation of aviation disasters. The Embraer E190AR is built in Brazil.
Since the aviation adventure began over the territory of Russia, Russian experts will also take part in the investigation. However, the main investigation will be conducted by Kazakh officials.
“Law enforcement agencies of Russia and Azerbaijan will not be allowed to participate in the forensic investigation (according to the KPK of the Republic of Kazakhstan), but the plane accident will be admitted to the investigation,” the Anadolu agency quotes the statement of the transport prosecutor of the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan, Abylaibek Ordabayev.
The accident investigation aims to determine the causes and circumstances of the disaster, but will not determine the culprits and the degree of their guilt.
Currently, both recorders have already been found among the wreckage of the plane – one of them records various flight parameters, and the other records the crew’s conversations in the cockpit.
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