The survivors of the plane crash on Christmas Day shared from their hospital beds what happened during the last moments before the jet was allegedly shot down by Russia.
Passengers on Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 said they heard loud bangs as the plane came in to land in Chechnya.
The tragic incident claimed the lives of 38 individuals on board. Passengers recall being petrified by the noises that made them fear the aircraft might disintegrate mid-flight while trying to escape from Russian airspace.
Survivor Vafa Shabanova said: “About 20 or 30 minutes after takeoff, we felt two explosions.
“The plane was supposed to land, but it didn’t. Something exploded inside twice.”
One of the passengers, Subhonkul Rakhimov, described his experience from his hospital bed, stating, “At the sound of the initial bang, I scanned the area, quickly evaluated the situation, and feared that the plane was on the verge of breaking apart.”
“A couple more seconds passed, but it didn’t fall apart.”
Rakhimov said she began to pray after the bangs believing that they could be her final words.
She said: “After the bang, people started getting up from their seats.
“Not everyone, of course, but those who were emotional, they all stood up.
“The flight attendants immediately entered the cabin (and started telling the passengers): ‘What are you doing, don’t get up under any circumstances, everyone quickly get back to your seats, everyone sit down, everyone calm down, everything is fine, everything will stabilize’.”
Flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov said following the “blows” the crew realised passengers were injured.
She said: “I myself was injured in my arm. One passenger was also injured in the leg. At that moment, the impact that struck inside caused injuries.
“There were people who panicked, and we tried to calm them down, telling them not to panic.”
The hero pilots managed to fly the Embraer 190 over the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan where it crash landed killing 38 of the 67 on board.
Aviation experts and the US have accused Russia of shooting down the plane.
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s Baku to Grozny, when reportedly targeted by air defences on high alert for Ukrainian drones.
Russian troops also jammed the plane and prevented it from landing at other nearby airports.
Instead, they reportedly hoped for the flight to crash into the Caspian Sea to thwart efforts to find what brought it down.
The Russian civil aviation authority claims the crash was probably caused by a bird strike.
The Kremlin refused to comment on the crash on Friday but on Thursday said “It would be wrong to put forward any hypotheses before the investigation’s conclusions.”
Azerbaijani officials have confirmed a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system struck the aircraft.
Just one minute after the plane was hit, panicked Russia shut down air space, according to blogger VChK-OGPU.
The post claimed two drones were flying over the same part of Chechnya at the time – just after 8am.
Anti-air Pantsir missiles had been installed in the area of Grozny airport just a fortnight before, the blogger claimed.
Kazakhstan says it will carry out an investigation, aided by Azerbaijan, but will not cooperate with Russia.
Three of the five crew on the plane died, including Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Aleksandr Kalyaninov.
Chief flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva’s voice could be heard over the tannoy during the flight as she tried to calm the passengers.
In one chilling video, she could be heard saying: “Everything will be fine.”
The family of Aliyeva have now paid tribute to the “cheerful person” saying “she always told us to be proud of her”.
Her family told news agency APA: “She had visited many countries and always told us to be proud of her.
“Once, after returning from a trip, she said their plane almost crashed… This time, the crash happened, and my daughter couldn’t survive.”
MIRACLE SURVIVORS
Dozens of passengers, including children, miraculously survived the horror crash.
Around 150 emergency responders rushed to the scene, battling towering flames and thick plumes of black smoke rising ominously into the sky.
Meanwhile, an investigative team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan is working at the crash site.
They found the black box of the doomed flight which revealed the haunting final words the pilot said just moments before the plane crashed on the ground.
Struggling to control the plane, one of the pilots said: “I can’t execute, control is lost!”
The pilots tried to take the plane to three different airports but failed to land.
They lost communication with the ground crew before vanishing off the radar for 37 minutes.
Footage emerged showing terrified passengers making final video calls and leaving messages as the aircraft began to plunge.
Distressed people on board can be seen jumping out of their seats as they try to make sense of the situation.
As the oxygen masks dangled in the air, some passengers started to scream in horror, while others called their loved ones and began praying.
