The White House said on Friday that there are indications that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed three kilometers from the airport in the Kazakh city of Aktau could have been shot down by Russian air defense systems.
National Security spokesman John Kirby explained at a press conference that Washington has offered help to the relevant authorities for the investigation and that President Joe Biden is being informed about it, according to Bloomberg.
Kazakhstan Airlines has explained that, according to preliminary data, the accident was caused by “external physical and technical interference.” The plane has decided to suspend flights departing from Baku starting this Saturday until the investigation is completed.
The Azerbaijani government has confirmed the presence of “shrapnel traces” inside the plane, as well as “holes” in one of the wings and “damage to the fuselage,” according to Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev.
On Christmas Day, a Kazakhstan Airlines Embraer 190 plane on the Baku-Grozny route crashed three kilometers from the airport in the Kazakh city of Aktau, leaving 38 dead and 29 injured, most of them seriously.
Just a couple of hours into the flight, the plane requested an emergency landing. Due to thick fog in Grozny, it was first diverted to Makhachkala in Russian Dagestan and then to Aktau, where it finally crashed.
