Kazakhstan crash raises fears of Russian missile involvement
One of the surviving passengers of the aeroplane that crashed on Wednesday in Kazakhstan claims that as the aircraft approached landing in Grozny, he heard a loud bang. Then, the aeroplane began to behave oddly. "As if it were drunk," said a participant of the tragic flight.
The plane, flying from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, crashed on Wednesday morning near Aktau, Kazakhstan. In the disaster, 38 of the 67 people on board were killed.
One of the surviving passengers is Subhonkul Rakhimov, who shared his experiences with a Reuters reporter.
Rakhimov recounts that as the aircraft approached landing at Grozny airport, he heard a loud bang. "I thought the plane was going to break apart," said Rakhimov, who is in hospital, adding that he began to pray, anticipating a disaster.
After the bang, the plane started acting strangely, "as if it were drunk", said Rakhimov. After the crash, he stated, silence fell on board, followed by the groans of the injured.
Suspicions of being shot down
Four sources familiar with the preliminary findings of the Azerbaijani investigation indicate that the plane might have been mistakenly shot down by Russian air defence.
The carrier, Azerbaijan Airlines, announced on Friday that starting Saturday, they will suspend flights to seven Russian cities: Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, and Makhachkala until the investigation conducted by the Azerbaijani civil aviation authority is concluded, reported the Baku.ws portal citing airline representatives.
Azerbaijan Airlines flights to other Russian airports - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Astrakhan, Kazan, and Novosibirsk - have not been cancelled.
Shortly before the suspension of flights was announced, an Azerbaijani airline's plane flying from Baku to Mineralnye Vody turned around over the Caspian Sea and landed back at the airport in the capital of Azerbaijan - reported the Meduza portal.
On Thursday, Israeli airline El Al warned of suspending all flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow, citing "changes in Russian airspace." The Israeli carrier's decision was based on preliminary assessments indicating that fire from the Russian air defence system caused Wednesday's Azerbaijani plane crash.
