Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met with the families of two pilots and a cabin crew member who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) passenger plane that crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan on December 25, 2024, and the 2 cabin crew members who survived the incident.
Reminding that the pilots and cabin crew who lost their lives in the incident were named “National Heroes of Azerbaijan”, and the two cabin crew who survived were awarded the “Reşadet” medal, Aliyev said that if the pilots had not shown professionalism and heroism, there would have been no survivors in this accident.
Stating that the black boxes of the plane were examined in Brazil, Aliyev said, “Of course, all the issues that were unknown until now will come to light. It is clear that the plane was made uncontrollable by radio-electronic methods. Another thing we know is that the plane was damaged by fire from the ground. But why did the plane go to Aktau?” “We do not yet have information about whether it was directed or not. We do not have information on whether this was the decision of the tower or the pilots’ own choice. All this information will be revealed after the black boxes are opened.” he said.
Emphasizing that the life of every Azerbaijani citizen is precious, Aliyev said, “If the airspace over the city of Grozny had been closed in time, all the rules of ground services had been followed and there had been coordination between the armed forces and civil services of the Russian Federation, this tragedy would not have occurred.” he said.
Aliyev said that he did not want to disclose all the details about the investigation and said, “However, I can say with certainty that the blame for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this accident lies with the representatives of the Russian Federation. We demand justice, punishment of the criminals, full transparency and humane treatment.” he said.
The Embraer 190 type aircraft belonging to AZAL, which was on the Baku-Grozny flight, crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan on December 25. 38 people died in the accident and 29 people survived.
AZAL had announced that the plane crashed as a result of physical and technical external intervention.
Speaking to AA, Azerbaijani officials confirmed the claim that the plane was attacked by the Russian “Pantsir-S” air defense system.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken to Aliyev by phone and apologized for the “tragic incident that took place in Russian airspace” in which the AZAL plane was shot down.
Phone from Putin to Aliyev: ‘Compensation should be paid for the plane crash,’ he said
Passengers brought Kalima Shahadah
Aliyev demanded compensation from Russia
Source: www.star.com.tr
