Azerbaijan Plane Crash Kills  12/26 06:27

   

   (AP) -- Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the 
victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors 
injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the disaster that 
remained unknown.

   Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of 
Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it 
was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to 
land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

   The plane went down about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. 
Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a 
steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage 
showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the 
aircraft lying upside in the grass.

   On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across 
the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as 
the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.

   Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but 
said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

   "The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between 
Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau 
airport, where it crashed upon landing," he said.

   Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary 
information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led 
to an emergency on board.

   According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 
Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan 
nationals. Russia's Emergencies Ministry on Thursday flew nine Russian 
survivors to Moscow for treatment.

   As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a 
possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane's 
tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian 
air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

   Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of 
the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country's North 
Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya 
happened on Wednesday, although it wasn't officially confirmed.

   Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United 
Kingdom, warned its clients that the "Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely 
shot down by a Russian military air-defense system." Osprey provides analysis 
for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their 
flights during the war.

   Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 
alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.

   "This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do," Nicholson wrote 
online. "It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a 
way that could have been avoided."

   Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense 
assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "it would be wrong 
to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict."

   Kazakhstan's parliamentary Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against 
rushing to conclusions based on pictures of the plane's fragments, describing 
the allegations of air defense fire as unfounded and "unethical."

   Other officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment 
on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to 
determine it.