Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft WAS shot down by Russia, White House says as Putin’s aviation chief tries guilty aircraft crash that killed 38 on heavy fog

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed on Christmas Day killing 38 people was shot down by Russia, the White House has said. 

National security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday there were ‘early indications’ that the jet was brought down by ‘Russian air defence systems’. 

And when pressed on whether there was US intelligence that led to that conclusion, Mr Kirby said ‘yes’ but refused to provide any further details. 

It comes as Russian aviation chief Dmitry Yadrov tried to blame the crash near Aktau in Western Kazakhstan on fog. 

He said the plane, which was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, Chechnya, failed to land at its intended destination several times due to the weather.

Yadrov claimed the pilot decided to land in Aktau despite air traffic controllers allowing the aircraft to use other Russian airports.

‘The situation in the area of Grozny airport was quite difficult,’ he said in a statement. ‘There are many circumstances that it’s necessary to investigate jointly.’

He did not comment on statements by Azerbaijani politician Rashad Nabiyev who blamed the crash on Russian air defences responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Officials in Moscow have previously said a drone attack was under way in the region that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight was destined for, causing it to divert.

Terrifying footage from inside the aircraft show the moments before and after it ploughed into the ground and erupted into a ball of flames. 

Some of the 67 passengers and five crew members on board made final frantic video calls to loved ones. 

Chief flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva has been praised for bravely comforting passengers as the pilots desperately tried to save the plane. 

In one clip, the flight attendant could be heard telling those onboard ‘everything will be fine’ over the tannoy. 

It has now been confirmed that Aliyeva was among the 38 of the 67 on board who died.

Aliyeva’s family have since paid tribute to the ‘cheerful’ flight attendant, adding that ‘she always told us to be proud of her’.

The flight had left Baku and was flying over over the republic of Dagestan along the Caspian Sea coast when it disappeared from tracking on Christmas morning. 

It then showed up around an hour later off course, flying low above the water near western Kazakhstan before crashing.

Footage of the crashed plane has revealed suspicious holes in the fuselage, leading to rumours it was shot down by Russians. 

Azerbaijan Airlines on Friday blamed the crash on unspecified ‘physical and technical interference’ and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports.

It did not say where the interference came from or provide any further details.

 Mr Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that ‘preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact’. as does witness testimony.

‘The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,’ Mr Nabiyev said.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one loud noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. 

She said that she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.

Mr Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. He denied Kazakh officials’ claim that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane.

Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have been tight-lipped about a possible cause pending an official probe. 

But a member of Azerbaijan’s parliament, Rasim Musabekov, told the Azerbaijani news agency Turan on Thursday that the plane was fired on while in the skies over Grozny and urged Russia to offer an official apology.

Asked about Mr Musabekov’s statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, saying that it will be up to investigators to determine the cause of the crash.

‘The air incident is being investigated, and we don’t believe we have the right to make any assessments until the conclusions are made as a result of the investigation,’ Mr Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

 Investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny as part of the crash probe, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement.

As the probe began, some aviation experts pointed out that holes seen in the plane’s tail section suggested that it could have come under fire from Russian air defence systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

Ukrainian drones have previously attacked Grozny and other areas in the country’s North Caucasus.

FlightRadar24 said in an online post that the aircraft faced ‘strong GPS jamming’ that interfered with flight tracking data. Russia has extensively used sophisticated jamming equipment to fend off drone attacks.

Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozy and Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities.

The company will continue to operate flights to six Russian cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg. Those cities also have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in the past.

Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air also announced on Friday that it was suspending flights from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month.

FlyDubai also halted flights to Sochi and Mineralnye Vody in southern Russian until January 5.

The day before, Israel’s El Al carrier suspended flights from Tel Aviv to Moscow citing ‘developments in Russia’s airspace’. The airline said it would reassess the situation next week.