Aktau, Kazakhstan: At least 38 people died, and 29 others were injured when an Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau on Wednesday, Kazakh authorities said. The Embraer 190 passenger jet, flying from Azerbaijan to Russia, went hundreds of miles off course before it hit the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea.
Flight J2-8243 was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. No official explanation has been given yet on why the aircraft went off the intended route. The crash happened hours after drone strikes were reported in southern Russia, where previous instances of drone activity had compelled airports to close down. By Wednesday morning, the closest Russian airport along the plane’s intended route had already been closed down.
The Russian aviation watchdog speculated that the accident could have been due to a bird strike. But Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation-security firm, offered a far more ominous scenario, suggesting that the jet was “likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Video of the wreckage and the circumstances surrounding the airspace security environment in southwest Russia indicate a possibility that the aircraft was hit by some form of antiaircraft fire,” said Osprey’s chief intelligence officer, Matt Borie.
Ukrainian national security official Andriy Kovalenko also pointed to Russian involvement, accusing a “Russian air-defense system” of bringing down the plane in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The passengers on board were 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russians, six Kazakhstanis, and three Kyrgyzstani nationals. According to reports, both pilots died in the crash, Interfax reported from Russian news agency. Medical teams at the site have recovered four bodies so far, while survivors, including two children, are being treated in nearby hospitals.
Kazakh authorities have opened an investigation, but tensions remain high as conflicting narratives emerge regarding the cause of the tragedy.