“I felt the plane hit the ground“ – Eyewitness account of the Aktau crash
The man was fortunate to survive the crash.
"My wife and I were flying to visit our son who lives in Grozny. When the plane was first hit, I felt flames beneath my feet and thought I was injured. I tried to calm my wife, but the fear wouldn't leave me. I unbuckled my seatbelt and looked down—the floor of the plane seemed intact. Just as I leaned back in my seat again, there was an even stronger impact on the rear of the plane. The flight attendants tried to calm the passengers and announced that we were landing in Grozny," Sirajov recounted.
At that moment, he said, the plane began to descend.
"I saw that we were already arriving; I could see the airport building, the runways, the planes. Imagine looking down from a 10-story building. We were so close to the ground and were sure we were landing right there," the man recounted.
However, at that moment, the plane gained speed and took off again.
"The flight attendant advised us to gather anything soft and press our foreheads against the seat, closing our eyes. I had a thick jacket, so I folded it and gave it to my wife, telling her not to move until the end, as instructed. It never even occurred to me to be afraid; I was only thinking about my wife. And then I felt the plane hit the ground," Sirajov added.
Baku-Grozny plane crash near Aktau: what happened?
Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Russia), crashed three kilometers from Aktau at 11:30 AM local time on December 25. The passenger flight was unable to land in Grozny due to heavy fog, first it was redirected to Makhachkala, and then to Aktau.
The official cause of the incident is still unknown. The media are spreading various theories, including a bird getting into the plane's engine, as well as an oxygen tank exploding in the cabin. The black box was found in the evening of the same day, now experts will have to decipher its data.
Investigation
An interdepartmental investigative task force has been created under the leadership of the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan. It includes specialists from the transport prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The investigation is under the special control of the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Embraer specialists have flown to Kazakhstan.
How many people were on board?
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there were 69 people on board, including 5 crew members:
42 citizens of Azerbaijan;
16 citizens of Russia;
6 citizens of Kazakhstan;
3 citizens of Kyrgyzstan;
two unidentified women of unknown citizenship, one about 32 years old, the other about 40 years old.
Azerbaijan Airlines also published a full list of passengers.
What is known about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near Aktau?
The aircraft that crashed near Aktau was an Embraer ERJ-190, a twin-engine jet widely used for short and medium-haul flights. The aircraft are manufactured by a Brazilian company. The ERJ-190 (E190) is designed to carry between 96 and 114 passengers, depending on the cabin configuration. These aircraft can fly up to 4500 kilometers.