According to an investigation into the fatal accident of an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft in Kazakhstan earlier this week, the airline confirmed on Friday that the incident occurred as a result of “physical and technical external interference” with the passenger jet.
On its way from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, Russia, the Embraer 190 crashed Wednesday near the Kazakh city of Aktau, killing 38 of the 67 persons on board.
Early indications suggested the airliner could have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft system, a U.S. official said.
The U.S. has evidence suggesting that the Russians may have mistaken the Azerbaijani airplane and shot it down, two U.S. military sources told NBC News on Friday.
According to the officials, the aircraft’s odd flight pattern and altitude led the Russians to suspect it was a drone and activate their air defenses. They both emphasized that the probe is still under progress.
Osprey Flight Solutions’ senior intelligence officer, Matthew Borie, told NBC News on Thursday that “the flight was likely shot down by a Russian air defense system.”
He said that Russia was shooting down drones as part of a Ukrainian military-grade weaponized drone offensive that Russian air defense troops were defending against at the time of the event.
The Russian aviation authorities claimed Friday that the situation near Grozny, Chechnya, was “very complicated” when the jet was redirected to Kazakhstan, where it crashed, despite Russian officials warning against conjecture over the cause of the incident.
Russia’s aviation regulator, Rosaviatsia, said that “Ukrainian combat drones” were operating in the Grozny area. Ukraine and the current conflict with Russia are both close to Chechnya.
Rosaviatsia said that visibility was nonexistent at an elevation of around 1,600 feet due to heavy fog near Grozny airport. According to a statement released by Dmitry Yadrov, chairman of Rosaviatsia, the pilot was given the option of other airports but decided to continue to the Kazakh city of Aktau after two failed attempts to land in Grozny.
Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it has also halted flights to five other Russian airports from Baku. This decision comes after flights to Grozny and Makhachkala from Baku were suspended on Wednesday.
The airline said in a message posted on its Telegram channel on Friday that the suspension would last until the conclusion of the final inquiry.
