Tragically 35 people likely lost their lives in a passenger plane crash near Aktau Airport. The Plane that took off from Azerbaijan and was traveling to Russia was forced to land in Aktau due to bad weather conditions. The passenger plane suffered a crash at around 6.28 a.m. on Wednesday causing near the airport itself. The Accident has caused many people in the country to despair and mourn.
As the Plane crashed, the people breathlessly began to retire and the rescuers bravely took the matter into their hands. Fifty-two emergency responders and eleven vehicles from Kazakhstan were rushed right to the crash site but when they arrived the only thing visible were the thick clouds of smoke that the wreckage created. The firefighters didn’t stop there and kept working tirelessly to put out the flames and rescue the passengers stuck in the wreckage.
There were 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and five crew members, Azerbaijan Airlines said on X.
A total of 28 people have been confirmed to have been rescued in the accident however 22 out of those 25 have suffered injuries due to which they have been taken to the hospital for treatment.
According to Kazakh media reports, the passengers on board included 37 citizens from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan. The initial cause of the tragedy appears to be a bird strike, Xinhua news agency reported.
The MES dispatched 52 personnel and 11 units of equipment to the site, where the aircraft was found to be on fire. The Embraer 190 aircraft is designed to carry between 96 and 114 passengers, depending on its cabin configuration. The aircraft can fly up to 4,500 km.
According to FlightAware, the aircraft took off from Baku 11 minutes ahead of schedule. While flying over the Caspian Sea, it issued an emergency signal.
Azerbaijani media reported that the aircraft was unable to obtain permission to land in Grozny due to fog, leading it to be redirected to Makhachkala and later to Aktau.
Online flight tracking apps showed the plane flying over the Caspian Sea and heading towards its destination, in Chechnya. As the plane entered Russia's territorial borders, it started circling near the airport. Following this, it requested an emergency landing.
At 6:28 am local time, the plane crashed a few kilometers away from the airport. According to FlightRadar24, the plane was exposed to "strong GPS jamming, which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data." Azerbaijan Airlines has assured that more information will be provided, while local authorities and emergency services are investigating the crash.