An Azerbaijani airliner traveling to Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday after takeoff, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.
Here is what is known so far.
How did the plane crash?
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that are not yet entirely clear.
It happened while trying to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east over the Caspian Sea.
At least thirty-eight people were killed after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane bound for Russia crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas morning, a Kazakh official said, adding that 29 others, two children of among them, survived the accident. Investigators are continuing to work to determine what caused the crash.
The plane went down near the coast about three kilometers from Aktau. Cell phone footage circulating online appeared to show the plane descending steeply before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball.
Rescuers sent the 29 people who survived the crash to hospitals.
How did Azerbaijan respond?
Azerbaijan observed a day of national mourning on Thursday. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic stopped across the country at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its intended course.
What do officials, experts say about a possible cause?
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities say they are investigating the accident. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information indicated that the pilots moved to Aktau after a bird strike caused an emergency on board.
Some commentators have suggested that the holes seen in the tail section of the plane in the photo after the crash may indicate that it may have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a drone attack Ukrainian.
Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security company based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian air defense system.”
The CEO of Osprey, Andrew Nicholson, said that the company had issued more than 200 calls regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
Asked Thursday about the allegations that the plane was shot down by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make assumptions before investigators make their judgments.” “
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have also declined to comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine.
