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Subkhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers who survived the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190AR plane, shared the details of the incident. According to him, the pilots tried three times to land the plane in Grozny (Russian Federation), despite thick fog, but all attempts ended in failure.

“The plane went up sharply. It was landing, and then it went up sharply and began to gain altitude. For the third time, something exploded. There was an explosion – I wouldn’t say it was inside the plane. Where I was sitting, the skin next to me flew off… Vest I took it and looked: there was a hole in the vest – after this explosion, this fragment flew right between my legs and went right through the vest,” he said. Rakhimov. He noted that the pilot changed the flight path, which may have saved the lives of passengers.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, there were 69 people on board the plane, including five crew members. Of these, 29 passengers, including two children, survived while in the rear of the plane. The flight crew, according to preliminary data, died. The lists of victims are being updated.

There are 701 emergency personnel and 82 pieces of equipment at the crash site. The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Kamaleddin Fattah ogly Heydarov, arrived in Aktau. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev ordered the creation of a state commission to investigate the causes of the disaster.

The plane was flying from Baku to Grozny, but due to unfavorable weather conditions it was redirected to Makhachkala and then to Aktau. While approaching Aktau airport, the plane crashed and caught fire. Rescuers managed to quickly put out the fire.

Before the crash, the crew informed dispatchers about the failure of one of the aircraft’s key systems and issued a distress signal. Shortly after this, the aircraft disappeared from radar.

Earlier, information appeared that this passenger plane could have been shot down by Russian air defense.

Kursor also shared the first details and video of how a passenger plane crashed in Kazakhstan.