HARROWING footage showed the passengers onboard the doomed Azerbaijan Airlines flight just moments before it crashed – killing 38 people.
29 individuals, which included three children, remarkably managed to survive a horrific incident on Christmas Day. The crash occurred as Flight J2-8243, carrying a total of 67 individuals, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan.
Previous footage showed the Embraer aircraft nosediving before smashing into the ground after reportedly colliding with a flock of birds.
The plane had been en route from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia but was rerouted due to bad weather conditions.
However, several aviation experts speculate that the plane may been shot down by the Russian anti-missile defence systems.
Heartbreaking footage has now 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 to god.
Meanwhile, another footage shows the survivors of the plane crash coming out of the wreckage as emergency rescuers rushed to the scene.
Injured passengers can be seen stumbling as they get out of the mangled aircraft.
Around 150 emergency responders rushed to the scene, battling towering flames and thick plumes of black smoke rising ominously into the sky.
Authorities said that 29 people were miraculously pulled alive from the wreckage, but seven are reported to be in critical condition.
As per the emergency ministry of the Central Asian nation, fire services successfully extinguished the fire resulting from the crash. Those who survived the crash are currently receiving medical attention at a nearby hospital.
Two of the hospitalised survivors are children, believed to be girls aged 11 and 16.
“They are receiving all the necessary medical care in hospitals in the region,” said the Ministry of Health.
According to survivors, a bird got into the engine of the aircraft, “after which an oxygen tank exploded on board”.
“People on board began to lose consciousness,” said a report.
A video was taken inside the plane by survivor Subkhon Rakhimov who realised there was an issue and sent the clip to his wife.
One of the passengers, who now bears a heavily bruised face, commended the flight attendant for her exceptional performance during the ordeal. The passenger expressed uncertainty regarding the survival of the flight attendant but praised her for executing her duties flawlessly.
“Where there was an oxygen tank explosion, experts will say, only they can say – it happened. But, there was an explosion.”
WHAT CAUSED THE CRASH?
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com revealed that the aircraft made what appeared to be a figure-eight manoeuvre as it approached Aktau airport.
Its altitude fluctuated significantly during the final moments of the flight before crashing.
The cockpit’s final, desperate attempt to land in Aktau was captured in horrifying detail.
The aircraft is seen descending too steeply, its nose pointed sharply down, moments before the crash shattered the festive morning.
Witnesses described a deafening explosion as the plane broke apart and burst into flames upon impact.
Images of the flaming wreckage, with emergency services battling to control the inferno, capture the sheer scale of the disaster as charred fragments of the plane lie scattered across the crash site.
Kazaeronavigatsiya, Kazakhstan’s air navigation authority, confirmed the emergency declaration, stating: “The Embraer 190 AHY8243 aircraft travelling on the Baku-Grozny route declared an emergency situation due to a collision with a bird and violation of steering control.”
Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Telegram: “Preliminary: after a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on board, its commander decided to ‘go’ to an alternate airfield – Aktau was chosen.”
But President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has said that it is too soon to determine the cause of the crash.
“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.
An aviation expert has claimed that it is unlikely the crash was caused by a bird strike.
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at consultancy AeroDynamic Advisory told Reuters that in a bird strike, planes usually land in the nearest available field and do not go hundreds of miles off
He said: “This does not look like crash damage. This indeed looks like an influence from outside.
“You can lose control of the plane, but you don’t fly wildly off course as a consequence.”
Meanwhile, FlightRadar24 reported that the plane experienced severe GPS jamming, which caused it to transmit faulty ADS-B data — the information used by flight-tracking websites to monitor planes in real-time.
Russia has previously been accused of jamming GPS signals in the region, raising questions about its potential involvement.
The aircraft had already been forced to divert from part of Russia that Moscow has been defending against Ukrainian drone attacks.
RUSSIAN INVOLVEMENT?
Wall Street Journal reporter Yaroslav Trofimov said speculation by Russian media included that Russian air defences mistook the passenger jet for a Ukrainian drone.
numerous holes found in the fuselage suggest that Russia shot down the aircraft, experts have claimed.
Images from the wreckage show what appear to be bullet holes or damage caused by shrapnel which has raised further questions about the true cause of the crash.
Pro-Kremlin media and independent sources have claimed that Russian defences may have targeted the aircraft, according to The Times.
Russian military analysts from the Conflict Intelligence Team stated on Wednesday that the holes could have been caused by a Pantsir-S1 air defence missile.
It comes after 50 Ukrainian drones were targeting areas of Russia shortly before the incident which may have triggered defences.
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Rybar said: “Several drones were shot down over North Ossetia and neighbouring Ingushetia.”
A Kremlin-supporting blogger Yuriy Podolyaka wrote that the aircraft “shows damage consistent with an air defence missile, detonating from the side and above.
“Survivors recall a ‘bang’ during its third foggy landing attempt in Grozny before redirection to Makhachkala.
“It may have been caught in a defence response to an attack on Grozny.”
