An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after travelling far off course, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said.
The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead flew across the Caspian Sea and went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
The flight’s course on the Flight Radar website showed it flying away from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the sea’s eastern shore.
The Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry reported that “29 survivors, including three children, have been hospitalised.” Azerbaijan Airlines reported that 67 people were on board – 62 passengers and five crew members. The Kazakh Transport Ministry said the plane carried 37 nationals from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia.
Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the plane “made an emergency landing” around three kilometres from Aktau. The Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry said its staff put out a fire which broke out when the plane crashed. It said 150 emergency workers were at the scene.
Kazakhstan said it had opened an investigation into the cause of the crash, which was not immediately clear. Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before withdrawing the statement.
It said an investigative team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan has been dispatched to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site with reports saying the flight data recorder has been located.
