Azerbaijan Airlines Jet Crashes in Kazakhstan: 38 of 67 Aboard Killed
On December 25, 2024, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board and injuring 29. The aircraft, registration 4K-AZ65, was operating flight J2-8243 from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in Russia, with 62 passengers and five crew members. Three of the dead were crew members.
Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry and Ministry of Emergency Situations said the jet had flown far off its scheduled route across the Caspian Sea and crashed while attempting an emergency landing about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau airport, catching fire on impact; fire services at the scene put out the blaze. Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev disclosed the death toll of 38 while meeting an Azerbaijani delegation in Aktau. The 29 survivors were taken to a nearby hospital; they included children, and the deputy prime minister said 11 were in critical condition.
Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry said the passengers included 37 citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 of Russia, six of Kazakhstan and three of Kyrgyzstan. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said that, according to information he had received, the plane had changed course because of poor weather, but that the cause of the crash was unknown and had to be fully investigated. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences, and Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a plane with medical personnel and equipment to Kazakhstan to assist.
Kazakhstan's government set up a commission to investigate and said it would cooperate with Azerbaijan on the inquiry; Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case over the crash, and search teams located the aircraft's flight recorder. Azerbaijan Airlines suspended flights from Baku to Russia's Chechnya region until the investigation is complete. As of that day, the cause of the crash was not clear. (Source: Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan)
Source: 哈萨克斯坦交通部与紧急情况部
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：涉事客机本机，阿塞拜疆航空 Embraer 190（注册号 4K-AZ65），2016年摄于 Antalya 机场。Mehmet Mustafa Celik 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The accident aircraft, an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 (registration 4K-AZ65), photographed at Antalya Airport in 2016. By Mehmet Mustafa Celik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
