A civilian Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines was downed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25, after reportedly being struck by a Russian air defense system responding to a drone attack in Chechnya.
The crash has left 38 dead and 29 survivors.
The Embraer 190, operating flight J28243 from Baku to Grozny, was denied landing clearance at airports in Grozny and Makhachkala. Forced to attempt an emergency landing, the aircraft crashed a few kilometers short of Aktau airport, exploding and catching fire upon impact.
Eyewitness accounts from survivors suggest that the aircraft had been struck by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft missile. “There was an explosion, not from within the plane,” one survivor told Russian state media, describing damage to the fuselage and his own life jacket punctured by fragments.
Video footage recorded by a passenger shortly after the explosion shows damage to the fuselage consistent with shrapnel impacts from an air defense missile. The tail section of the plane, which survived the crash intact, also bore evidence of such damage, including punctures in control surfaces and the fuselage.
Vice Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev confirmed the casualty toll, stating that many of the recovered bodies were severely burned. Of the 67 people on board, 62 were passengers and five were crew members.
Following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines suspended all flights to Russia’s North Caucasus region. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared December 26 a day of mourning, cutting short his visit to Russia for the CIS summit to return to Azerbaijan.
Despite mounting evidence of a missile strike, officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have not commented on the possibility of an air defense mishap. The incident raises questions about civilian flight safety in regions where military activity poses risks to commercial air traffic.
This tragedy marks another troubling chapter in the ongoing challenges surrounding aviation safety in Russia.