Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry on final timeline for completion of AZAL plane crash investigation

The final timelines for completing the investigation into the causes of the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft operating the Baku–Grozny flight and crashing near Aktau depends on the completion of all assigned studies and work, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport said in a statement, The Daily Baku reports.

"In accordance with the provisions of ICAO Annex 13, the sole purpose of an aircraft accident investigation is to prevent similar incidents in the future," the statement said.

The ministry noted that alongside the air crash investigation conducted by the Air Accident Investigation Commission of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, a criminal investigation is also being carried out by Kazakhstan's law enforcement agencies.

"The final timelines for completion of the aviation accident investigation depend on the timelines for completing all assigned examinations and work. Conclusions on the cause(s) of the incident and/or contributing factors, as well as flight safety recommendations, will be set out in the Final Report," the statement added.

On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Embraer 190 aircraft operating flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny crashed 3 km from Aktau in Kazakhstan.

According to preliminary investigation data, while approaching Grozny the aircraft was subjected to an attack by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system. In addition, due to the use of electronic warfare (EW) systems by the Russian side, the Azerbaijani aircraft"s communications system was completely disabled. As a result, the aircraft disappeared from radar in Russian airspace.

There were 67 people on board (62 passengers and 5 crew members), including 42 citizens of Azerbaijan (37 passengers and 5 crew members), 16 from Russia, 6 from Kazakhstan, and 3 from Kyrgyzstan.

As a result of the crash, 38 people were killed and 29 survived. Those killed in the accident included aircraft commander Igor Kshnyakin, co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov, and flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva.