“Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes off course en route to Russia, dozens feared dead”

Dozens of passengers are feared dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, reports say.

Kazakh authorities revealed that the Embraer 190 passenger jet, which was en route from Azerbaijan to Russia, was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. They reported that 32 individuals had survived following the crash.

Flight J2-8243 deviated significantly from its intended path, ultimately crashing on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea. Although officials did not provide an immediate explanation for this deviation, the incident occurred shortly after drone strikes affected southern Russia. Previous drone activities had led to airport closures in the region, and the closest Russian airport along the plane’s route was not operational on the morning of the crash.

Russia’s aviation watchdog, meanwhile, said it was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

More than 30 are feared dead following the crash near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)

A video capturing the crash depicted the aircraft descending rapidly before igniting upon impact with the shoreline. After the crash, thick black smoke billowed into the air. According to Reuters, injured and bloodied passengers were observed emerging from a largely intact section of the fuselage.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who had been traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan upon hearing news of the crash, the president’s press service said. Aliyev was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.

Emergency crews at the site of the Azerbaijani airliner crash on Dec. 25, 2024. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)

Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media. 

“It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote.

He also signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.

The plane was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, the Associated Press reports. (The Administration of Mangystau Region/AP Photo)

In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black.

“We ask God for mercy on the passengers and crew members who lost their lives,” a translated statement on X said. “Their pain is our pain. We wish a speedy recovery to those injured.” 

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.