Rescuers retrieve 38 bodies and recorders from Azeri plane crash

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Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Published Dec 26, 2024  •  2 minute read

In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, a part of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Bloomberg) — Kazakh authorities said that a rescue team has recovered 38 bodies at the crash site of Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer SA 190 aircraft as clean-up efforts continue.

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As many as 29 people survived the crash and are in the hospital, while 38, including three crew members died, Kazakhstan Emergency Situations Ministry said Thursday. Rescuers have also retrieved the flight recorders, which should help to determine the cause of the crash.

Representatives of Embraer SA and Brazil’s aviation accident investigation and prevention agency CENIPA are headed to Kazakhstan, the country’s authorities said. The planemaker said Wednesday it was following the situation and is focused on supporting authorities.

The aircraft was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region, when it changed course to make an emergency landing in Kazakhstan, the Azeri state-owned carrier said in a statement on Wednesday. The plane came down about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from Aktau, Kazakhstan.

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The flight had initially been diverted to Makhachkala on Russia’s Caspian Sea coast because of fog, and then on to Aktau, according to the Tass news service. The Kazakh city is about 310 kilometres east of Makhachkala, across the water.

A bird strike was the likely cause, Azerbaijan state news agency Azartac reported shortly after the crash, citing an airline representative. Some aviation experts have cast doubt on that explanation, after unconfirmed video from the wreckage emerged on Wednesday showing damages that they say are inconsistent with a collision with birds.

The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported claims from Ukraine and aviation safety consultants Osprey that the plane could have been damaged by Russian anti-missile system. Both Grozny and Makhachkala had earlier been targeted by the Ukrainian drones.

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Azerbaijan Airlines declined to comment on the speculation about the cause of the crash. “A detailed investigation is under way at the moment,” Azerbaijan Airlines President Samir Rzayev told reporters in Baku on Thursday. The Embraer 190 plane underwent full technical inspection in October and had no technical issues, Rzayev said.

The airline also said it’s suspending flights to both Grozny and Makhachkala until the investigation is complete, without elaborating.

“It is highly unusual that an airline closes all its flights to the region. This indicates that they might suspect that the whole aerial space in that region is unsafe,” said Moscow-based independent aviation expert and pilot Andrei Litvinov.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged all parties to wait for the end of the investigation, Interfax reported on Thursday.

—With assistance from Ilya Arkhipov.

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