Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry: Embraer 190 received external damage while still in the air
The Kazakhstan Transport Ministry has published a preliminary report on the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 passenger airliner of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL). The document states that before the impact with the ground, the aircraft received through and non-through damage of various shapes. Some of them (having a regular rectangular shape) could have been caused by "external objects that penetrated the aircraft components." As part of the investigation, foreign objects found in the fin and stabilizer area were removed for further analysis.
Thanks to the transcript of the recordings in the cockpit, it was possible to find out that at 5:13 a.m. an impact was recorded and the autopilot shutdown sound signal was activated. A second "sonic boom" followed 25 seconds later - on-board devices recorded cabin depressurization, the pressure in the hydraulic systems dropped to 0. The flight attendant informed the captain over the intercom that two rear seats had exploded and the crew was seating the passengers. After the explosion, the plane began to chaotically change its flight path, and sharp changes in altitude were observed.
The report also noted that before the crash, dispatchers warned the Embraer pilots about the introduction of the "Carpet" plan at the Grozny airport. The crew reported a collision with birds and requested information about weather conditions in Makhachkala and Rostov, after which they decided to head to Aktau.
On December 25, an Embraer plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. There were 67 people on board, of which 42 were citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 - Russia, 6 - Kazakhstan and 3 - Kyrgyzstan. 29 passengers survived.
The causes of the crash have not yet been officially announced, but the dominant version is that the plane came under fire from Russian air defense systems during an attack by Ukrainian drones on Chechnya. This is the opinion of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and he is demanding that Russia admit guilt, punish the perpetrators, and pay compensation. During a telephone conversation with him, Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized, but only because "the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace."
