The Emergency Situations Ministry of Kazakhstan reported that at least 29 individuals, including two children, survived the crash and were taken to hospitals for treatment of various injuries. An unverified video shared by RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, depicted injured passengers being rescued from the wreckage, with some lying on the ground while others managed to walk away from the scene.
The ministry also released images purportedly from the crash site, showing firefighters sifting through the debris. One image indicated that the tail section of the aircraft remained largely intact, although it had detached from the main body of the plane. While the Kazakh authorities are in the process of compiling a list of the deceased and injured, they have not yet provided an official death count.
According to Russia’s state aviation authority, the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was attempting an emergency landing in Aktau after colliding with a flock of birds. The airline confirmed that the aircraft went down approximately 1.8 miles from the city. In response to the incident, Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry has initiated an investigation into the crash's causes.
Later that day, Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the launch of a criminal investigation and dispatched a team of investigators to the site. Similar investigations have also been initiated in both Russia and Kazakhstan. The Embraer-190 aircraft was en route from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya republic but was diverted to Kazakhstan due to foggy conditions in Grozny.
The airline announced that it is halting flights from Baku to Grozny and Makhachkala in Dagestan until the investigation into the crash is completed.
Earlier on Wednesday, Flightradar24 reported via the social media platform X that the aircraft had experienced GPS jamming and spoofing in the vicinity of Grozny. Such radar jamming is typically employed to protect areas from drone incursions, though it remains uncertain if this factor contributed to the crash.
Local news sources in Chechnya reported drone strikes within the republic on Wednesday. Grozny Inform, a state-operated news outlet, quoted Khamzat Kadyrov, a local security official, who stated that all drones involved had been intercepted. These claims have not been independently verified. In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have targeted various locations in Chechnya, including a facility associated with a riot police unit.
Kazakhstan’s transportation ministry indicated that the flight's passengers comprised 37 Azerbaijani nationals, 16 Russians, six Kazakh citizens, and three Kyrgyz nationals.
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin reached out to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to convey his condolences regarding the crash victims, as reported by Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson. Mr. Aliyev was en route to St. Petersburg for a meeting of former Soviet leaders but returned to Azerbaijan following the incident, according to the Kremlin.
In remembrance of the victims, Mr. Aliyev has declared Thursday a day of mourning. Initially, Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry reported that 25 individuals survived the crash, but this figure was later updated to 29 as rescue operations continued.
Azerbaijan Airlines serves as the national flag carrier of Azerbaijan, originating from the regional division of Aeroflot shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Initially, the airline operated a fleet comprised of Soviet-era aircraft; however, it has since evolved significantly, with the majority of its fleet now consisting of modern Western planes, as stated on the airline's official website.
The most notable incident in the airline's history occurred in 2005, when an An-140 aircraft tragically crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in the loss of 18 passengers and five crew members. Subsequent investigations by airline officials attributed the cause of the crash to instrument failure.