Azerbaijan’s flag service introduced Friday that it’ll droop flights to a number of Russian airports, citing potential flight security dangers after a crash of one in all its planes that many consultants blamed on Russian air protection hearth.
Azerbaijan Airways’ Embraer 190 was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian metropolis of Grozny within the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for causes nonetheless unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east throughout the Caspian Sea. The crash killed 38 folks and left all 29 survivors injured.
Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have been tight-lipped a couple of potential reason for the crash pending an official probe, however a lawmaker in Azerbaijan blamed Moscow. Rasim Musabekov instructed the Azerbaijani information company Turan on Thursday that the aircraft was fired on whereas within the skies over Grozny, and urged Russia to supply an official apology.
Requested about Musabekov’s assertion, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to remark, saying that it will likely be as much as investigators to find out the reason for the crash.
“The air incident is being investigated and we do not consider we now have the suitable to make any assessments till the conclusions are made on account of the investigation,” Peskov mentioned in a convention name with reporters.
Investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as a part of the crash probe, Azerbaijani Prosecutor Common’s workplace mentioned in a press release.
Because the official crash probe began, some aviation consultants identified that holes seen within the aircraft’s tail part advised that it may have come below hearth from Russian air protection methods heading off a Ukrainian drone assault.
Ukrainian drones had beforehand attacked Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and different areas within the nation’s North Caucasus. An official in Chechnya mentioned one other drone assault on the area was fended off on Wednesday, though federal authorities didn’t report it.
FlightRadar24 mentioned in an internet submit that the plane had confronted “sturdy GPS jamming” that interfered with flight monitoring knowledge. Russia has extensively used refined jamming gear to fend off drone assaults.
Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala, Azerbaiajan Airways on Friday additionally halted service to extra Russian cities, reducing air hyperlinks to Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara.
It mentioned in a press release that the flights can be suspended “following the preliminary outcomes of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 plane working flight J2-8243 from Baku to Grozny, attributable to bodily and technical interference, and contemplating potential dangers to flight security.”
The corporate will proceed to function flights to 6 different Russian cities together with Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan. These cities even have been repeatedly focused by Ukrainian drone strikes up to now.
Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air additionally introduced Friday that it was suspending flights from Astana to the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg within the Ural Mountains for a month.
The day earlier than, Israeli El Al suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.” The airline mentioned it might reassess the scenario subsequent week to resolve whether or not to renew the flights.
__
Related Press author Aida Sultanova contributed to this report from London.
Copyright 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials is probably not revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
