After the plane crash in Kazakhstan, pictures and videos of the destroyed plane appeared on social media. The writings claim that there are holes in the side of the plane from a missile.
Appeared on social media after the plane crash in Kazakhstan pictures and videosshowing the holes in the aft part of the plane’s fuselage.
Social media users claim that the damage is the result of shrapnel from an anti-aircraft missile.
Allegations that an anti-aircraft missile hit the plane have been made by Russian-speaking pro-war activists Telegram channels and they have been reported on, for example, by a Russian opposition newspaper Medusa and The Wall Street Journal.
A representative of Ukraine’s security authority and a British aviation security company announced after the accident that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was probably downed by Russian anti-aircraft fire on Christmas Day, WSJ writes.
The plane, which was on its way from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to Grozny, Russia, crashed in the Aqtaw region of Kazakhstan on Christmas day. Azerbaijani scientists are currently investigating the causes of the plane crash.
The airline said right after the accident that the accident was caused by the plane hitting a flock of birds.
Social media commentators find the theory of a flock of birds implausible and write that the tracks on the crashed plane are more like the tracks of a drone, an anti-aircraft missile or a bomb.
Russian security authorities nearby In the Telegram channel another recording of the accident was published, from the conversation between the pilots and the air traffic control at Grozny airport.
The text version of the recording shows that the Embraer plane asked for permission to land at Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, several times.
Due to bad weather, permission was denied. The plane started to take off and there were problems with its GPS system.
When the plane decided to turn back to Baku, the pilots reported a strong impact. According to the recording, the pilots thought the plane hit a flock of birds. Then the pilots reported difficulties in controlling the plane.
The pilots informed air traffic control that they were transferring to the nearby Mineralnye Vody airport. For some reason, however, they changed their destination to Makhachkala in southern Russia.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said Wednesday night that it is too early to speculate on the cause of the plane crash in Kazakhstan.
At least 38 people died in Wednesday’s accident.