Azerbaijan airlines incident: Grozny and Rosaviatsiya confuse versions
Photo: Embraer 190AR airplane crash (Getty Images)
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) and Grozny Airport have differing accounts of why an Azerbaijan Airlines plane changed its course to Kazakhstan, according to Grozny Airport Director Alvi Shakhgiriyev.
According to Shakhgiriyev, the Embraer 190AR aircraft, operating the Baku-Grozny flight for Azerbaijan Airlines, changed its course due to a thunderstorm before the start of the drone attack.
"This plane left us even before the Carpet Plan was implemented. The aircraft entered the zone of our airport and attempted to land three times but was unable to due to poor weather conditions — fog and low cloud cover prevented it from landing. The aircraft commander independently decided to divert to an alternate airfield. He informed our dispatchers that he was heading to Baku. Later, he changed his decision and headed to Aktau," the airport director stated.
Shakhgiriyev also added that while the aircraft was within the Grozny Airport responsibility zone, the commander did not report any technical malfunctions or issues on board.
Earlier, Dmitry Yadrov, head of Rosaviatsiya, claimed that the plane could not land due to weather conditions and the implementation of the Carpet Plan.
Kazakhstan air crash
On December 25, a passenger plane, an Embraer 190 operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, crashed in Kazakhstan, resulting in dozens of fatalities. Media reports indicated the plane’s fuselage bore possible evidence of being struck from the ground.
As reported by Euronews, the crash may have been caused by an attack from Russian air defense systems.
More about the Kazakhstan air crash and how Russia is suppressing information about the involvement of air defense systems can be found in the RBC-Ukraine material.
