Dec. 27 (DPnet).– The Embraer (EMBR3.SA), passenger jet on Flight J2-8243 from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia's southern Chechnya region, crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defense systems against Ukrainian drone strikes.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
Furthermore, one of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan's investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary investigation results indicated that the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system. Footage of the plane shows gaping holes in the fuselage, leading to further allegations that the aircraft was shot down by Russian antiaircraft weapons.
At 08:16 AZT, the crew reported experiencing control difficulties and requested that the aircraft be diverted to Makhachkala. At 08:22 AZT, the crew reported a hydraulics failure. The aircraft then attempted to divert to Makhachkala's Uytash Airport in Dagestan, Russia but was not authorized to do so. Therefore, they turned around to the Caspian Sea, and at 09:49 AZT the pilots requested an emergency landing at Aktau International Airport in Aktau, Kazakhstan. They attempted to manage the approach in direct mode, with the estimated landing time set for 11:25 Kazakhstan time.
Finally, the plane entered Kazakh airspace at 11:02 AQTT flying over the Caspian Sea toward Aktau, and completed two turns near Aktau Airport. Out of control, as it was trying to make a third turn, at 11:28 AQTT, communication between the pilots and air traffic control was lost. At 11:30 AQTT, the airplane struck the ground, with its right-wing hitting first. It then tumbled, exploded, and broke into two major pieces.