During the interview with Azerbaijan Television, President Ilham Aliyev shared various details about the factors leading to the crash of an AZAL-owned aircraft near Aktau.

“Of course, the final version will become clear after the black boxes have been examined. However, the initial theories are also quite reasonable and are based on facts. The facts are that the Azerbaijani civilian plane was damaged from the outside over Russian territory, near the city of Grozny, and almost lost control. We also know that electronic warfare systems put our plane out of control. This was the first impact on the plane. At the same time, as a result of fire from the ground, the tail of the plane was also severely damaged,” The President stated. 

In an interview His Excellency also said: “The fact that the fuselage is riddled with holes indicates that the theory of the plane hitting a flock of birds, which was brought up by someone, is completely removed from the agenda." 

“Unfortunately, however, some circles in Russia preferred to put forward this theory. Another regrettable and surprising moment for us was that official Russian agencies put forward theories about the explosion of some gas cylinder on board the plane. In other words, this clearly showed that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue, which, of course, is unbecoming of anyone. Of course, our plane was hit by accident. Of course, there can be no talk of a deliberate act of terror here. Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologizing in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this – all these were measures and steps that should have been taken. Unfortunately, for the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except for some absurd theories,” added the President.

President Aliyev also addressed the unresolved questions surrounding the causes of the AZAL-owned plane crash near Aktau: “Let me repeat that after the flight recorders are examined and we obtain more detailed information, the full picture of what happened will be revealed, and many questions that remain unanswered today will be clarified. For example, why couldn’t the plane land in Grozny? To what extent did the electronic warfare systems affect the plane’s controls? What was the extent of the damage caused by the strike and the explosion near the plane? I must also emphasize that attempts to deny obvious facts or mislead people in this matter are both nonsensical and absurd.”

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Ilham Aliyev AZAL plane crash Azerbaijan Airlines Kazakhstan Plane Crash Azerbaijan