There were 67 passengers and five crew members on board the Azerbaijan airlines flight from Baku to Russian city Grozny. Plane crashed during emergency landing.
Astana: An Azerbaijan Airlines flight, carrying around 72 passengers, crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Around 60 people are feared dead in the crash. The flight from Baku in Azerbaijan was on its way to Grozny in Russia when the tragedy unfolded.
It is learnt that the Embraer 190 aircraft had requested an emergency landing before it crashed. The Ministry for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan has confirmed the crash and fire and has assured of special probe.
According to sources, the plane carried 67 passengers and five crew members. Media reports quoting Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that a fire had erupted at the crash site. According to initial reports, six people have survived the plane crash, Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said.
The plane was originally scheduled to travel from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus. News agency AP quoting a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency , reported that preliminary information showed that the pilot had chosen to divert to Aktau after a bird strike on the aircraft led to “an emergency situation on board”.
Azerbaijan Airlines Issues Statement
Embraer did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday morning. In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black. According to Azerbaijan Airlines, the Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing at Aktau airport. Media reports, citing Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the flight had ‘made an emergency landing’ around three kilometres from Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
Video Footage Shows Exact Moment of Plane Crash
A video footage has surfaced online which shows an aircraft crashing to the ground and turning into a fireball. Six people are reported to have survived the crash, authorities said. The video shows that the aircraft hit the ground and turned into a fireball during emerging landing in Kazakhstan. A thick black smoke covered the air after the horrific incident.
