Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines jet that crashed in Kazakhstan reported hearing thuds and explosions from outside the plane during the flight, and the cause of the deadly disaster is still under investigation.
An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport on Wednesday morning, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, Kazakh officials said.
Emergency professionals work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP via Getty Images
An Azerbaijani crew member who survived the crash told ABC News by phone from his hospital room on Friday that he heard three thuds while flying over Grozny, Russia. He said he believed the noise came from outside the plane.
The crew member, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said he heard a thud and immediately realized the injury.
“I don’t know what moved me. I just looked and saw blood,” he said.
He was hospitalized in Aktau and later transferred to a hospital in Baku, Azerbaijan.
According to the crew, the plane was flying from Baku to Grozny, but was unable to land due to heavy fog. The flight crashed while attempting to land and was rerouted to Aktau, Kazakhstan.
A passenger told Reuters from his hospital bed that he heard a “thud”, saw oxygen masks falling and saw damage to the plane. He said he initially thought the plane was going to break apart and began praying.
“It was clear that the plane was damaged in some way,” passenger Sukhonkur Rakhimov told Reuters. “It was like I was drunk. It wasn’t the same plane anymore.”
Rakhimov said he was “thrown back and forth” while being strapped down, but then went quiet, at which point he realized he had landed.
Another passenger told Reuters he felt “two explosions” about 20 to 30 minutes after takeoff.
Airport ground staff and medical workers assist surviving Azerbaijani nationals arriving at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport after an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 passenger plane crashed near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 26, 2024. .
Stringer/AFP (via Getty Images)
Azerbaijan’s transport minister said on Friday that the plane’s passengers and flight attendants “heard an explosion from outside, then something touched the plane” over Grozny, according to local media.
Authorities in both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are investigating the crash. The cause has not yet been determined, but multiple sources have pointed to the possibility of Russian involvement.
White House National Security and Public Affairs Advisor John Kirby told reporters Friday that there are “early indications” the plane may have been shot down by Russian air defenses, but the investigation is ongoing. He added that it was inside.
An Azerbaijani government official told ABC News on Thursday that new evidence is emerging that the plane may have been shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
The plane had recently flown over an area where Moscow’s air defense forces were engaging Ukrainian drones.
Video and photos of the plane after the crash show bullet holes in some parts of the plane.
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev said on Friday that “the preliminary opinion of experts indicates the presence of external interference.” “This is evidenced by the appearance of the plane’s debris on the ground and the testimony of witnesses.”
Azerbaijan Airlines also announced on Friday that preliminary results of the investigation showed that the crash was caused by “external physical and technical interference.”
The Kremlin declined to comment on the matter until the investigation into the crash was completed.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “The investigation into the aircraft accident is ongoing, and we do not believe that we have the right to make any assessment until a conclusion is reached based on the findings of the investigation. I’m not going to evaluate it,” he said. Friday. “We have our own aviation authority that can do that and this information can only come from there.”
Dmitry Yadorov, head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, said Ukraine could be held responsible for the crash.
“The situation around Grozny airport on that day and at that time was quite complicated. Ukrainian drones were carrying out terrorist attacks against civilian infrastructure in Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadorov said on Friday, according to state media. ” he said.
Emergency professionals work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the western Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25, 2024.
Issa Tazhenbayev/AFP via Getty Images
Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it had suspended flights from Baku to 10 Russian cities “in view of potential risks to flight safety due to external physical and technical interference.”
“The suspension will continue until the final investigation is completed,” it added.
Other airlines, including El Al, flydubai and Kazak Airlines, also suspended flights to various Russian cities following the incident.
ABC News’ Tomek Rolski, Michelle Stoddart and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
