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An Azerbaijani passenger jet bound for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday after veering off course, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Here is what is known so far.
How did the plane crash?
The Embraer 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines was on its way from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons still unclear.
It crashed while trying to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east over the Caspian Sea.
At least thirty-eight people were killed after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane en route to Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas morning, a Kazakh official said, adding that 29 others, including two children, survived the crash. Investigators continue to work to determine the cause of the accident.
The plane crashed near the coast about three kilometers from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appears to have shown the craft descending steeply before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball.
Rescuers urgently transferred 29 people who survived the accident to hospitals.
How did Azerbaijan react?
Azerbaijan declared a day of mourning throughout the country on Thursday. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic was stopped across the country at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the weather had forced the plane to change its planned course.
What do officials and experts say about the possible cause?
Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities say they are investigating the crash. In a statement to The Associated Press, Embraer said the company “stands ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information indicated the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike caused an emergency on the plane.
Some commentators have argued that the holes seen in the tail section of the plane after the crash probably indicate that it may have come under fire from Russian air defense systems that were fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.
Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security company based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that “the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air defense system.”
Osprey chief executive Andrew Nicholson said the company had issued more than 200 warnings about drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
Asked Thursday about claims that the plane was fired upon by air defenses, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to speculate before the investigators make their verdict.”
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan similarly avoided comment on the possible cause of the crash, saying that would be determined by investigators.
