THE cause of the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people has been revealed.
The Christmas Day disaster saw the aircraft explode into a fireball near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan amid reports that it was shot down by a Russian anti-aircraft missile.
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Azerbaijan Airlines have now revealed that the cause of the crash was “external physical and technical interference”.
It’s the first official statement on the cause of the crash from the airline – confirming the disaster was not caused by a fault on board the aircraft.
The doomed flight had been travelling from Baku, in Azerbaijan, to Grozny, in Russia’s Chechnya on Christmas before it crash landed.
Several reports have linked the tragedy to Russia since with many alleging the plane was attacked by air defence missiles.
An initial investigation reportedly found that the plane was hit by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system, according to Azerbaijani government sources.
Four sources told Reuters that the plane was downed by the Russian air defences as it flew over the country.
Euronews later said the plane was targeted by a surface-to-air missile from the Kremlin’s arsenal.
It is believed to have exploded next to the aircraft as shrapnel struck passengers and cabin crew, the report added.
This theory was fuelled further as just one minute later a panicky Russia shut down the air space, according to blogger VChK-OGPU.
Anti-air Pantsir missiles had been installed in the area of Grozny airport just a fortnight before the deadly incident.
The head of military intelligence told The War Zone it was likely these short range air defence systems which hurtled towards the aircraft.
Russia is yet to comment on the crash with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refusing to address it at all today.
Tracking data from FlightRadar24 and the plane’s transponder shows the final minutes of the plane’s journey.
The jet flew in an erratic pattern, repeatedly lurching up and down across the Caspian Sea as the hero pilots fought for control of the damaged jet.
Pilots then tried to descend towards Aktau Airport but continued to battle to keep control the downed aircraft.
Terrifying footage showed the Embraer nosediving before smashing into the ground into a fireball blast.
It was seen ripped in half along the ground – killing more than half on board.
Miraculously, the fuselage managed to remain intact allowing dozens of passengers to survive.
Investigations into what caused the tragedy are ongoing with officials still searching for answers.
The team – headed up by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan – have already recovered the black box data.
It revealed the haunting final words the pilot said just moments before the plane smashed into the ground.
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Struggling to control the plane, one of the pilots said: “I can’t execute, control is lost!”
As the plane descended uncontrollably, an oxygen tank is believed to have exploded, Kazakhstan’s transport minister said.
Marat Karabayev did not say how it exploded with it not expected to be the sole reason for the disaster.
The gas cylinder was stationed in the passenger cabin, he added.
Harrowing footage from on board the jet has emerged from the survived travellers with many screaming in horror in the distressing clips.
It shows terrified passengers making final video calls and leaving messages to their loved ones as the aircraft started to plunge.
Horrified people can be seen jumping out of their seats as they try all they can to plan for their survival.
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