Director of Rosaviatsiya Reveals New Details About the Crashed Plane Incident

The decision to fly to Aktau was made independently by the pilot of the crashed AZAL aircraft. This was reported by Dmitry Yadrov, the director of Rosaviatsiya.

“After attempting to land in Grozny, other airports were offered to the captain of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) aircraft that crashed in Kazakhstan. However, he decided to fly to Aktau,” Yadrov said.

He also noted that at that time, a 'carpet' mode was implemented at the Grozny airport, which required the immediate removal of all aircraft from the area. The aircraft commander made two unsuccessful attempts to land the plane in Grozny.

It is noteworthy that on December 25, an Embraer 190 aircraft from Azerbaijan Airlines, which was flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed and caught fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The incident occurred close to the airport. There were 62 passengers and 5 crew members on board. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan, 32 people survived.