Azerbaijani Plane Crash: Minister Says “External Interference”
On December 27, Azerbaijan’s Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev said that a plane crash in Kazakhstan was caused by “external interference.” This means something from outside the plane itself made it crash.
Nabiyev said that authorities are investigating what kind of weapon was used. He based his conclusion on the damage to the plane and eyewitness accounts. The plane, which carried 67 people, crashed on December 25 while flying from Baku to Grozny.
Many people were killed in the crash, including 38 confirmed dead. There were survivors who heard a loud bang as the plane approached its destination. Some experts think that the plane may have been hit by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
The plane’s flight path was also disrupted ahead of landing, according to Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister Marat Karabayev. Online tracking showed that the plane’s GPS was likely jammed or spoofed near Grozny.
Nabiyev said that Azerbaijan Airlines, which operates the crashed plane, is suspending flights to eight locations within Russia. This decision comes after the airline acknowledged “physical and technical external interference” as the cause of the crash.
Initially, Russian officials claimed that the plane collided with birds, but this has not been confirmed.