Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38.
Over 30 people are feared dead following a crash near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)An Azerbaijan Airlines crashed on Wednesday morning in the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 on board the Embraer 190, according to officials.
Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the death toll while meeting with Azerbaijani officials, media outlets reported.
Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office said previously that 32 of the 67 people on board the plane had survived. However, the latest death toll brings the number of survivors to 29.
Kazakstan's emergency ministry initially said 25 people survived the crash, later revising that number to 27, 28 and 29 as the search and rescue operation continued at the site of the crash. All survivors, including two children, have been hospitalized.
Flight 8432, en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, made an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers from Aktau after reportedly colliding with a flock of birds, according to airline reports.
Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed that the passengers included 37 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russians, six Kazakhstanis, and three Kyrgyzstani nationals.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 revealed the aircraft performing a figure-eight maneuver as it approached Aktau airport. During the final minutes of the flight, its altitude fluctuated significantly before it crashed.
FlightRadar24 reported in an online post that the aircraft experienced "strong GPS jamming," which caused it to transmit inaccurate ADS-B data, the system used by flight-tracking websites to monitor planes in real time.
Videos shared on social media and compiled by AnewZ news channel appear to show the aircraft struggling during its emergency landing, ultimately breaking apart in a fireball upon impact.
At a news conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev cautioned against speculating about the cause of the crash but noted that adverse weather conditions had forced the plane to alter its planned route.
“The information provided to me indicates that the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather and diverted to Aktau airport, where it crashed during landing,” he stated.
Embraer has yet to respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan Airlines issued a statement promising to keep the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black in mourning.
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