Exclusive: Preliminary investigation confirms Russian missile caused Azerbaijan Airlines crash

Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed to Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Aktau on Wednesday.

According to the sources, the missile was fired at Flight 8432 during drone air activity above Grozny, and the shrapnel hit the passengers and cabin crew as it exploded next to the aircraft mid-flight.

Government sources have told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.

According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.

The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system, Baku-based international outlet AnewZ reported, citing Azerbaijani government sources.

Not noted in this article is that there was fog @ Grozny and the plane had tried to land 3 times unsuccessfully before it was hit. Nor is the exact timing of the claimed drone activity clear, although a drone attack in fog does make some sense, as does the possibility of getting numerous radar blips confused.

The civilian population near the Aktau airport is much smaller than @ Grozny, and not built up so close, either. There is a lot of empty, flat land around Aktau. Basically, if there’s a possibility of a crash landing, and you miss or don’t make it to the runway, Aktau is a much better choice.

I’d speculate the pilots still had some hydraulic control when they headed out over the Caspian Sea, but the remaining partially functional system(s) bled out.

Unanswered:

Was the plane in or returning to a holding pattern when hit, or was it already diverting to another airport?

Did Grozny ATC inform the AD that they had a civilian jetliner in a holding pattern / trying to land, with necessary updates?

Why the hell would Russian AD jam the plane (GPS) once it was more than 1/2 way over the Caspian Sea and headed to Aktau?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.