The Christmas Day disaster killed 38 people and has prompted an investigation following fears the Azerbaijan Airlines plane was downed by a Russian missile defence system
Azerbaijan Airlines crash: Passenger films wreckage
A husband who filmed heartbreaking final message for his wife as he prepared to die in the fiery wreckage of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on Christmas Day has miraculously revealed that he survived the ordeal.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan on Christmas Day after initiating an emergency landing en route from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to Grozny, in Chechnya, Russia. Kazakh authorities have estimated that 38 people died during the crash, which tore the plane in half, and many others were injured.
Passengers who survived the horror ordeal could be seen milling around the area in footage taken after the incident, which investigators now fear could have resulted from a Russian air defence missile rather than bird strike as was initially believed. Among those who survived was Subkhon Rakhimov who has told how he survived after he filmed a heartbreaking message for his wife.
Mr Rakhimov recorded a video for his wife telling how the plane was losing altitude after attempting to land several times, adding that people onboard heard a loud bang. New footage recorded by the passenger shows his miraculous survival, with Rakhimov seen walking around the plane’s wreckage in Kazakhstan.
The smiling man appeared visibly bloodied as he films the wreckage and praises a flight attendant aboard the aircraft for keeping him alive. His video also captures rescuers attempting to access the plane and recover potential survivors, with overlaid text reading “Allahuv Akber” a phrase that translates to “God is Great”.
Azerbaijani officials have since launched an investigation into the crash after Russian officials insisted the aircraft was downed by a “flock of birds” One Azerbaijani source familiar with the investigation told the Reuters news agency that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S missile air defence system.
The official added that its communications were paralysed by electronic warfare systems as it attempted to approach Grozny, but they added there were not claims the attack was launched on purpose. They said: “No one claims that it was done on purpose. However, taking into account the established facts, Baku expects the Russian side to confess to the shooting down of the Azerbaijani aircraft.”
