Azerbaijan crash live: 38 dead in mishap, airline suspends all flights to Gronzy

Azerbaijan Airlines suspended flights to two cities in southern Russia after a passenger plane heading in that direction was diverted across the Caspian Sea and crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing dozens.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, AFP reported quoting officials.

The Embraer 190 aircraft that was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia instead flew across the Caspian Sea and went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

A preliminary probe into the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner near Kazakhstan, suggests that a bird collision might have played a role in the crash. READ MORE

There are at least 29 survivors, the Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement, citing preliminary information. The plane had 64 passengers and 5 crew members on board, Bloomberg reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, over the loss of life on Wednesday in a plane crash involving an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Reuters reported.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Most of the 28 survivors recorded so far were in the tail section of the plane, news agency Interfax wrote, citing the airline.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: The flight crew did not survive the Flight 8243 crash, reported news agency Interfax, citing the emergency response center.

“Both pilots, according to preliminary data, died,” the operational headquarters said, according to the report.

The list of crew members as put out by Azerbaijan Airlines are as follows:

1.Kshnyakin Igor

2.Kalyaninov Aleksandr

3. Aliyeva Hokuma

4. Asadov Zulfugar

5.Rahimli Aydan

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: “The passengers included 37 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, 6 Kazakh citizens, and 3 Kyrgyz citizens,” wrote Azerbaijan Airlines on its X (Formerly Twitter) handle.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Azerbaijan Airlines has changed its social media banners to a solid black colour and has said it would keep the public updated.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said in an online post that the aircraft faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight, news agency AP reported.

Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region, according to the report.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Kazakhstan has officially said that at least 28 people have survived the Azerbaijan Airlines’ plane crash while more than 30 are likely dead, according to news agency AP

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, has expressed his condolences in a statement and said that those being treated in hospital are in an extremely serious condition and that he along with others would pray for their rapid recovery, Reuters wrote.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: The pilot may have decided to land after a a bird strike, according to a report by news agency Reuters which cited Russia’s aviation watchdog as having said in a statement based on preliminary information. Full details are yet to be known.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: “According to preliminary information, there are 25 survivors of whom 22 have been hospitalised,” the Kazakh health ministry said on Telegram, according to news agency AFP.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: The plane was preparing to land after the failure of some controls and back-up systems, according to news agency Interfax. Full details are yet to be known.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Kazakhstani officials say that more than 50 rescuers are at the crash site and have extinguished the fire, news agency PTI reported.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry says 42 people have likely died in the Azerbaijan Airlines’ plane crash, news agency AP reported.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but had gotten rerouted due to fog, and was forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau, according to news agency Reuters.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Preliminary data shows 25 people have survived the crash, according to news agency Reuters which cited Kazakh authorities.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Kazakh authorities say 62 passengers and five crew were on board Flight 8243 which crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, according to news agency Reuters.

Azerbaijan Airlines crash LIVE updates: Fourteen survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines crash in western Kazakhstan have been hospitalised, news agency AFP reported, citing local health officials.

“At the moment, 14 survivors have been taken to the regional hospital, including five in intensive care,” the report cited the health ministry’s regional department as having said in a statement.