SCARY footage shows passengers on board a failed Azerbaijan Airlines flight just moments before it crashed – killing 38 people.
Dozens of passengers, including children, miraculously survived the tragic Christmas crash after flight J2-8243 with 67 people on board crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
7
The footage shows the interior of the plane just moments before the fatal crash Credit: X/yo2thok
7
As oxygen masks dangled in the air, some passengers started screaming in terrorCredit: X/yo2thok
7
Terrified passenger rescued from crashed planeCredit: East2West
Terrifying footage showed the Embraer aircraft nosediving before hitting the ground in a fireball.
The plane was flying from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia – but was diverted due to bad weather.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane crashed after flying through a flock of birds – but later retracted the statement.
Aviation experts and Ukrainian officials believe the fireball was likely caused by Russian anti-aircraft fire.
Osprey Flight Solutions said the flight was “probably downed by a Russian military air defense system.”
An aviation security company sent a warning to airlines after reviewing footage of the crash and damage to the plane, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Matt Borie, chief intelligence officer at aviation security firm Osprey, said: “The video of the wreckage and the circumstances surrounding the security environment of the airspace in southwest Russia indicate the possibility that the aircraft was hit by some form of anti-aircraft fire.”
Osprey provides analysis for flights still heading towards Russia amid the Ukraine war – so far it has issued more than 200 warnings of drone attacks and air defense systems.
The company’s chief executive Andrew Nicholson said: “This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do.
“It is painful to know that despite our best efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”
Horrific moment plane with 105 on board crashes in fireball explosion in Kazakhstan in Christmas horror crash
Heartbreaking footage has emerged showing terrified passengers making final video calls and leaving messages as the craft began to sink.
Distraught people on board can be seen jumping from their seats as they try to make sense of the situation.
As oxygen masks dangled in the air, some passengers began to scream in terror, while others called their loved ones and began to pray.
Meanwhile, video shows plane crash survivors climbing out of the wreckage as emergency responders rush to the scene.
Injured passengers can be seen staggering out of the damaged aircraft.
About 150 emergency services rushed to the scene, battling high flames and thick columns of black smoke rising ominously into the sky.
Authorities said 29 people were miraculously pulled alive from the wreckage – but seven are said to be in critical condition.
The state’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said that fire services had extinguished the fire and that survivors were being treated at a nearby hospital.
Two of the hospitalized survivors are children – girls believed to be aged 11 and 16.
“They receive all the necessary medical care in hospitals in the region,” said the Ministry of Health.
The video was taken on the plane by survivor Subkhon Rakhimov – who realized there was a problem and sent the video to his wife.
The passenger, who now has a badly bruised face, said: “The flight attendant did her job perfectly, I don’t know if she survived or not, but she did her job perfectly.
“Where there was an explosion of an oxygen cylinder, experts will say, only they can say – it happened. But, there was an explosion.”
7
Emergency responders work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the western Kazakh city of AktauCredit: AFP
7
The wreckage of the Embraer 190 at the Azerbaijan airport lies on the ground, with several emergency workers and vehicles nearbyCredit: AFP
WHAT CAUSED THE COURT?
Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.com revealed that the aircraft made what appeared to be a figure-eight maneuver as it approached Aktau Airport.
Its height varied significantly during the last moments of the flight before the crash.
The last, desperate attempt of the cockpit to land in Aktau was recorded in terrifying detail.
The plane is seen descending too steeply, its nose pointed sharply downward, moments before the crash shattered the holiday morning.
Witnesses described a deafening explosion as the plane disintegrated and caught fire on impact.
Images of the burning wreckage, with emergency services struggling to control the inferno, show the sheer scale of the disaster as charred parts of the plane lie strewn across the crash site.
Kazaeronavigatsiya, Kazakhstan’s air navigation authority, confirmed the declaration of emergency, saying: “Aircraft Embraer 190 AHY8243 flying on the Baku-Grozni route declared an emergency due to a bird strike and violation of control controls.”
A Russian aviation watchdog said on Telegram: “Preliminary: after a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on the plane, its commander decided to ‘go’ to an alternative airport – Aktau was chosen.”
But Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it was too early to determine the cause of the accident.
“The information I received is that the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed for Aktau airport, where it crashed after landing,” he said.
An aviation expert says it is unlikely that a bird strike caused the crash.
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, told Reuters that in the event of a bird strike, planes typically land in the nearest available field and don’t go hundreds of miles away.
He said: “This doesn’t look like crash damage. This really looks like an external impact.
“You may lose control of the plane, but you won’t fly wildly off course as a result.”
Meanwhile, FlightRadar24 reported that the plane experienced severe GPS jamming, causing it to send erroneous ADS-B data — information used by flight tracking websites to track aircraft in real time.
Russia has previously been accused of jamming GPS signals in the region, raising questions about its potential involvement.
The plane had already been forced to divert from the part of Russia that Moscow was defending against Ukrainian drone attacks.
INVOLVING RUSSIA?
Pro-Kremlin media and independent sources claim that the Russian defense may have targeted the plane.
Images of the wreckage show what appear to be bullet holes or shrapnel damage – raising questions about the cause of the crash.
Russian military analysts from the Conflict Intelligence Team said on Wednesday that the holes may have been caused by a Pantsir-S1 air defense missile.
It came after 50 Ukrainian drones targeted areas of Russia shortly before the incident that may have triggered the defense.
The pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Rybar said: “Several drones were shot down over North Ossetia and neighboring Ingushetia.”
Pro-Kremlin blogger Yuriy Podolyaka wrote that the aircraft “shows damage consistent with an anti-aircraft missile, detonating from the side and above.
“Survivors remember the ‘bang’ during the third attempt to land in Grozny in the fog before diverting to Makhachkala.
“He may have been caught up in the defense’s response to the attack on Grozny.”
7
Images of the wreckage showing holes in the sides of the plane have fueled suspicions that the plane may have been shot downCredit: East2West
7
Experts have said a bird strike is unlikely, while others say Russian defense systems may have mistaken it for a Ukrainian droneCredit: East2West
CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday a day of mourning.
He canceled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a group of former Soviet nations.
Aliyev’s office announced that the president “ordered the immediate initiation of emergency measures to investigate the cause of the disaster.”
“I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident… and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Aliyev said.
A Kazakh woman told the local Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty branch that she was close to where the plane crashed and rushed to the site to help survivors.
The woman said: “They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help.”
She said they saved some teenagers.
– I will never forget their look, full of pain and despair – said Elmira. “One girl was begging, ‘Save my mother, my mother is there’.”
The Ministry of Health announced that a special flight was sent from the Kazakh capital Astana with specialist doctors to treat the injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev by phone and “expressed his condolences regarding the accident,” his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.
“The Russian Emergencies Ministry has been sent to Aktau with medical personnel and other equipment,” Putin said later opening a meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg.
The first lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country’s first vice president, said that she was “deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of life in the plane crash near Aktau.”
“I express my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. I wish them strength and patience! I also wish the injured a speedy recovery,” she said on Instagram.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane who died.”
Kazakhstan said it had launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which was not immediately clear.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before retracting its statement.
“At this time, we cannot reveal any results of the investigation,” the office of the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan said.
“All possible scenarios are being checked, and expert analyzes are needed,” it added.
An investigative team led by Azerbaijan’s deputy chief prosecutor was said to have been sent to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education