BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 24. The investigation in Russia into the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Aktau has confirmed the aircraft was shot down by a Pantsir-S1 air defense system, Trend reports, citing credible sources.
The system, reportedly delivered to Russia from Syria, was identified as the cause of the tragic incident. The investigation revealed that electronic warfare (EW) systems were used against the Azerbaijani plane. This interference reportedly disabled the aircraft's control system, contributing to the crash.
Further details on the investigation are expected as it progresses.
Earlier today, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev revealed that the so-called leaked data of talks between the crew members of the crashed AZAL plane vary with the data from the black boxes. “We do not consider this data as a leak of transcripts of black boxes. If it is published on the Internet, this does not mean that it is the truth. There is a big difference from the contents of black boxes," the official explained.
The passenger plane Embraer-190 of AZAL Airlines, flying on the Baku-Grozny route, crashed on December 25, three kilometers from Aktau airport. As many as 67 people were on board, including 62 passengers and 5 crew members.
As a result of the crash, 27 people were taken to the hospital. Among them are 15 citizens of Azerbaijan, eight citizens of Russia, and three citizens of Kyrgyzstan. The identity of one injured person has not yet been established.
Both pilots and a stewardess were dead; two other crew members survived.
On December 26, 14 victims and the bodies of four dead were transported to Azerbaijan.