BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 29. The AZAL (Azerbaijan Airlines) plane involved in the crash near Aktau was subjected to external impact, said Ilham Amirov, the Vice President of AZAL, Trend reports.
He made the remark during the farewell ceremony for the three crew members—pilots Igor Kshnyakin, Alexander Kalyaninov, and flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva, who died in the crash—at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
"A technical investigation commission has been established in Kazakhstan following international standards.
The aircraft's control systems have not yet been examined. The commission is actively working on this issue.
The information obtained from the testimony of the surviving crew members and passengers, as well as from the inspection of the plane crash site, provides us with clear grounds to state that the AZAL aircraft was subjected to external influence.
As a result, the plane was severely damaged, and the main control systems of the aircraft failed.
In such a difficult situation, our pilots, crew members, and flight attendants demonstrated composure, selflessness, and high professionalism," he added.
On December 25, a passenger plane, an Embraer 190, belonging to AZAL, flying on the Baku-Grozny route, crashed 3 kilometers from Aktau airport.
A total of 67 people (62 passengers and 5 crew members) were on board the plane.
On December 26, 14 victims and the bodies of four dead were taken to Azerbaijan.
On December 28, the bodies of the three crew members—pilots Igor Kshnyakin and Alexander Kalyaninov and flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva—along with the remains of 21 passengers, were transported back to Azerbaijan.
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