Russian officials reveal why doomed Grozny-bound plane diverted to Kazakhstan
An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan this week had to be diverted away from the Russian city of Grozny because the airport there was temporarily closed due to Ukrainian drone attacks, Dmitry Yadrov, the head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, has said. Poor weather conditions also contributed to problems on the ground, he added.
An Embraer E190AR operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, which was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Chechnya, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday morning. At least 38 out of 67 people onboard were killed in the tragedy, including citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan on board.
Local officials said, citing preliminary data, that the tragedy was caused by a bird strike. There are reports that an oxygen cylinder exploded on board at the time of impact, with many passengers being rendered unconscious. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have initiated investigations into the crash, with Russian officials also involved in the process.
In a statement on Friday, Yadrov said that following reports of the crash he informed his Azerbaijani and Kazakh colleagues that Russia is ready to cooperate in the investigation.
He noted that the tragedy was preceded by a “very complicated situation” near the Grozny airport. “At the time, Ukrainian strike drones were conducting terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” he said, adding that this prompted a temporary closing of the Grozny airport, with personnel there placed on high alert.
“Besides, there was thick fog near the Grozny airport,” Yadrov remarked, adding that visibility was limited to 500 meters, and the plane’s pilot attempted two landings, but eventually made the decision to leave the area and attempt to land in Aktau, across the Caspian sea. Yadrov stressed that the investigation is still ongoing.
On the day of the crash, a Ukrainian drone hit a shopping mall in Vladikavkaz, with one woman killed in the explosion. Officials in Chechnya also reported a Ukrainian drone raid on Grozny, and that all of the UAVs had been shot down.
