‘Tragic incident’: Putin’s rare apology for deadly plane crash
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a statement over the fiery Azerbaijani Airlines plane crash, but stopped short when it came to one key issue.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted Russian air defence was working when an Azerbaijani Airlines plane tried to land in Grozny before crashing, while stopping short of claiming responsibility.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin apologised to Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev over the “tragic incident” in a phone call, but did not say Russian air defence shot the plane.
Moscow had hitherto said that Grozny, where the plane was due to land but instead crashed in western Kazakhstan, was attacked by Ukrainian drones that day.
Baku, meanwhile, said Mr Aliyev had “emphasised” to Mr Putin the plane was hit by outside interference over Russia.
Moscow said Mr Putin had told Mr Aliyev the plane had tried to land in Grozny “several times”.
“During this time, Grozny, (the town of) Mozdok and Vladikavkaz were being attacked by Ukrainian combat drones and Russian air defence was repelling these attacks,” Mr Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.
It added that: “Vladimir Putin had presented his apologies that the tragic incident happened in Russia’s air space and again expressed his deep and genuine condolences to the families of the dead, wishing a quick recovery to those affected.”
A statement from Mr Aliyev’s office on the phone call appeared to show no doubt that the plane was hit over Russia.
“President Ilham Aliyev emphasised that the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane encountered external physical and technical interference while in Russian airspace, resulting in a complete loss of control,” Baku’s presidency said.
It added Mr Aliyev “highlighted that the multiple holes in the aircraft’s fuselage, injuries sustained by passengers and crew due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight, and testimonies from surviving flight attendants and passengers confirm evidence of external physical and technical interference.”
Survivors have told the media about hearing an “explosion” as the plane attempted to land.
Mr Aliyev’s office said Baku wanted an investigation “ensuring those responsible are held accountable.”
AIRLINE REVEALS CAUSE OF DEADLY CRASH
Earlier, Azerbaijan Airlines revealed “physical and technical external interference” caused the horrifying crash.
The flight – carrying 62 passengers and five crew members – crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan.
As many as 29 passengers survived the fiery crash.
Announcing the suspension of flights to 10 Russian airports, Azerbaijan Airlines said the decision was “based on the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating the Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 of Azerbaijan Airlines due to physical and technical external interference”.
The Russia-bound plane veered off course and crashed in western Kazakhstan.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia and diverted course over an area where Moscow’s air defences have battled Ukrainian drones in recent weeks.
Russia’s aviation chief said Friday the plane was being attacked by Ukrainian drones.
The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said in a statement that “the situation on this day and at these hours in the area of Grozny airport was very complex”.
“Ukrainian attack drones at this time were making terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov said, referring to a nearby city.
Yadrov said the Azeri pilot made “two attempts to land the plane in Grozny that were unsuccessful” in “thick fog”.
“The pilot was offered other airports. He took the decision to go to Aktau airport,” he added.
The Kremlin earlier Friday declined to comment on the deadly crash.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “until the conclusions of the investigation, we do not consider we have the right to make any comments and we will not do so”.
Some aviation and military experts have pointed to apparent shrapnel damage on the plane wreckage as evidence that it was hit by air defence.
Azerbaijan’s pro-government website Caliber and several other media have cited unnamed Azerbaijani officials as saying they believed a Russian missile fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system caused the plane to crash.
Ukraine’s presidency said Russia “must be held responsible for the downing” of the plane.
CRASH SURVIVOR’S CHILLING ACCOUNT
Russian survivor Subkhonkul Rakhimov told RT state broadcaster that an explosion appeared to happen outside the plane, causing shrapnel to penetrate inside.
He said the explosion took place as the plane made a third attempt to land in Grozny in fog.
“The third time there was an explosion. I wouldn’t say it was inside the plane because the skin of the fuselage near where I was sitting flew off,” he said.
“I grabbed a lifejacket and saw there was a hole in it – it was pierced by shrapnel.” “Somewhere between my legs this piece of shrapnel flew in and went right through the life jacket. I took a picture of the hole on my phone.”
The daughter of an air steward on the plane told AFP that her father, Zulfugar Asadov, was being treated in hospital for injuries to his head and back but had not broken any bones.
“He is in pain, his back hurts, he cannot speak much,” the woman, Konula Asadova, told AFP.
‘PUNISH THOSE TO BLAME’
Rasim Musabekov, an Azerbaijani politician and member of the parliament’s international relations committee, urged Russia to apologise for the incident.
“They have to accept this, punish those to blame, promise that such a thing will not happen again, express regrets and readiness to pay compensation,” Mr Musabekov told AFP.
“We are waiting for Russia to do this.”
He said the plane “was damaged in the sky over Grozny and asked to make an emergency landing”.
“According to all the rules of aviation, they should have allowed this and organised it.” Instead the plane was not allowed to land at Grozny or nearby Russian airports and was “sent far away” across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan with “GPS switched off”, Musabekov said.
He suggested that the aim could have been for the plane to crash into the sea to “cover up a crime”.
If air defences were operating near Grozny airport, “they should have closed the air space. The plane should have been turned around as it approached Grozny. Why wasn’t this done?” he added.
CRASH REMINISCENT OF MH17
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said: “We need to await the end of the investigation”.
But Russian military expert Yury Podolyaka said holes seen in the wreckage of the plane were similar to the damage caused by an “anti-aircraft missile system”.
“Everything points to that,” he wrote.
Gerard Legauffre, a former expert at France’s BEA air accident investigation agency, also said there appeared to be “a lot of shrapnel” damage on the wreckage.
He said the damage was “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was downed with a surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
– with AFP
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Originally published as ‘Tragic incident’: Putin’s rare apology for deadly plane crash
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