The black boxes of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday will be sent to Brazil for investigation, authorities in Astana said on Sunday. The disaster, caused by Russian anti-aircraft missile fire, killed 38 people.
“The investigative commission investigating the crash (…) decided that the flight recorders (black boxes) will be sent to the Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aircraft Accidents in Brazil, where the Embraer-190 plane was also built,” the Kazakh Ministry of Transport said in a statement.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced on Sunday that the plane was damaged by ground fire from Russian territory, which caused the pilots to almost lose control of it. – We also know that the plane was a victim of electronic warfare devices – added the Azerbaijani leader.
Air crash site in Kazakhstan (photo from December 25, 2024)KAZAKHSTAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY/EPA
The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny in Chechnya in the south of the Russian Federation. While the plane was approaching to land, there was an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Chechen capital, and then the Embraer was hit. Most of the passengers were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russians and several citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on board.
Main photo source: KAZAKHSTAN EMERGENCIES MINISTRY/EPA