Azerbaijan plane’s black box sent to Brazil for probe, Putin apologises over ‘tragic incident’

Brazil manufactures the Embraer plane involved in the crash that killed 38, likely caused by Russian missiles; Vladimir Putin apologises for the tragedy but stops short of acknowledging responsibility.

The black box from the Azerbaijan Airlines aeroplane that crashed in Kazakhstan last week, believed to have been hit by Russian anti-aircraft missiles, is being delivered to Brazil for investigation, Kazakh authorities have said.

The Accident Investigation Commission “decided to send the flight recorders to the Centre for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) in Brazil, which is also the country that manufactures the Embraer aircraft,” the Kazakh transport ministry said in a statement following the crash.

At the weekend Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised that a “tragic incident occurred in Russia’s airspace,” the Kremlin said, acknowledging a role in the crash of the plane carrying 67 people, but stopping short of an expression of responsibility.

The Kremlin leader’s apology, made during a call with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, is likely to tamp down anger that had been growing over the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane this week.

Preliminary results of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash that killed 38 of the people on board showed that a missile from a Russian air defence system hit the Embraer 190 aircraft and that Russian authorities diverted it out of Russian airspace, people briefed on the matter said. As many as 29 people on the flight survived the crash landing in Western Kazakhstan. Azerbaijani politicians have likewise publicly accused Russia of responsibility.

Putin, in his call Saturday, said that Russian air defences were fending off an attack from Ukrainian drones in the region at the time of the plane’s descent. Putin “once again expressed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of those killed and wished the fastest recovery to those injured,” the Kremlin said.

The Azerbaijani president’s office acknowledged Putin’s apology for the crash, saying that the Kremlin leader pointed to an external factor that caused the disaster. Neither Putin nor Aliyev said explicitly that a missile had downed the plane, according to readouts from both governments. But, during the call, Aliyev said that the aircraft’s body had numerous holes in it and that objects had penetrated the fuselage, injuring passengers and crew members in the cabin.

The two leaders discussed a transparent and comprehensive investigation and efforts to bring “those guilty to justice,” according to Azerbaijan’s statement. The two spoke about compensation for the families involved, Azeri media reported.

The aeroplane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the southern Russian city of Grozny. Accounts from survivors who spoke to media indicate the plane was likely hit on its third attempt to descend into Grozny.

The pilots then appeared to have started to lose control of the aircraft, likely caused by puncture holes in the plane’s vertical stabiliser, aviation experts said. The crew battled – for at least 75 minutes – to maintain a constant speed and altitude, with the aircraft rising and falling by as much as 8,000 feet multiple times, according to data from tracking specialist Flightradar24.

The plane was eventually able to make a crash landing near the western Kazakh city of Aktau, “only thanks to the bravery and professionalism of the pilots,” Aliyev said.

Kazakhstan has also been co-operating in the investigation of the crash landing. Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said the plane had been damaged before it flew into Kazakh airspace, Russian state news agency Tass reported, adding that ballistic and explosives experts were investigating the cause of the accident. He said that DNA testing was continuing to identify all of the victims.

The aftermath of the crash – Azerbaijan’s pressure on Russia to apologise, and Moscow’s initial reluctance to do so – had threatened ties between the two former Soviet republics, which had maintained a pragmatic relationship even while drifting apart in recent years. Moscow has increasingly lost clout in the South Caucasus, where Russia, Turkey and Iran vie for influence. In turn, Azerbaijan has grown closer to Ankara and Israel, which has boosted co-operation to limit Tehran’s influence in the region.

The incident threatens to further limit air travel to and from Russia, which has already been severely curtailed because of the war in Ukraine. Azerbaijan Airlines said it would suspend flights to nine Russian cities earlier this week, while Israel’s El Al, FlyDubai and Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air have also suspended flights to cities in western and southern Russia following the incident. Most European carriers were already restricted from flying to Russia, and the EU has closed its airspace to Russian airplanes.

The crash also highlights the growing risks that the Ukraine war poses to civil aviation in Russia. Moscow has tried to keep its skies open as Kyiv has boosted its ability to strike deeper into Russian territory with drones and long-range missiles provided by the US.

The Wall Street Journal