Pilots were able to guide the doomed Flight 8432 from Russian airspace following an ‘explosion’ that prompted panic inside the cabin, eventually crashing the aircraft in Kazakhstan
Brave pilots of the doomed Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan battled furiously to save the aircraft before it hit the ground and burst into flames.
Flight 8432 was flying from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to Grozny, in Chechnya, Russia on Christmas Day when pilots declared an emergency while inside Russian airspace and attempted to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan. The aircraft – an Embraer jet – ultimately crashed in a field, having deviated several hundred miles from its planned route, after what is believed to have been a Russian missile strike.
Officials estimate that 38 people died in the disaster, with only 29 survivors walking from the wreckage on Wednesday. But the total number of deaths could have been much higher without the heroic efforts of the plane’s captain and co-pilot, both of whom died when the plane crash-landed.
Captain Igor Kshnyakin was in command of the flight when the plane declared an emergency and he, alongside co-pilot Aleksandr Kalyaninov, steered the flight nearly 200 miles out of Russian airspace. Together, the two carried the plane across the Caspian sea and into Kazakhstan.
While completing the 186-mile trip, they were aided by chief flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva, who helped calm down panic-stricken passengers after an “explosion” rocked the cabin. She could be heard addressing people over the aircraft’s tannoy system assuring them: “Everything will be fine.”
Other attending staffers who survived the flight told of how they tried to calm the several dozen people aboard at the time after they were hit by what they believe was “some kind of external strike”. Flight attendant Zulfuqar Asadov said the impact of the explosion “caused panic inside” before it was followed by “another strike”.
He said: “The impact of it caused panic inside. We tried to calm them down, to get them seated. At that moment, there was another strike, and my arm was injured.” Surviving passengers have told of a similar situation, with Subhonkul Rakhimov saying he feared the plane would fall apart when it approached Russia’s southern Chechnya region.
Mr Rakhimov, who filmed a heartbreaking message for his wife before the plane crashed on Wednesday, told Russian state broadcaster RT that he believed the plane was pierced by shrapnel from an explosion. One piece, he said, pierced a lifejacket he grabbed following the initial detonation.
Early investigations have arrived at a similar conclusion, with Azerbaijani officials stating they believe the plane was downed as a result of “physical and technical external interference”.
Rasim Musabekov told AFP Russia must “accept” what happened and “express regrets and readiness to pay compensation”. He added: “We are waiting for Russia to do this.” Russian officials have said it is too early in the investigative process to point fingers at a culprit despite initially insisting the aircraft was hit by a “bird strike” soon after news of the crash broke on Wednesday.
