It has been suggested that the Azerbaijan Airlines jet crash was a potential hostile action rather than an accident.
CNN reported on December 26, quoting a U.S. government source, that Russian air defense systems may have targeted the Azerbaijani passenger plane.
The U.S. official suggested that initial data points to Russian forces’ possible misidentification and engagement. Rather than firing missiles, they could have caused the aircraft to lose control by disrupting the GPS.
The flight J2-8243, carrying 67 passengers and crew, crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Christmas Day, claiming at least 38 lives.
U.S. officials speculate that this could be a case of misidentification, where an untrained Russian unit may have confused the airliner with a Ukrainian drone.
Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed that flight J2-8243 departed Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic in southern Russia. However, it made an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers from Aktau.
Initially, Russian state media reported that the plane changed its route due to heavy fog near Grozny.
However, questions have arisen regarding the aircraft’s unexpected detour across the Caspian Sea to Aktau.
Given that Grozny is northwest of Baku, the flight had no reason to head east and cross the Caspian Sea toward Aktau.
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport, Marat Karabayev, stated that Russian authorities had informed Kazakhstan’s air traffic control about 45 minutes before the crash that the passenger plane had changed course. Russia claimed the aircraft had become uncontrollable, with the crew allegedly heading to Aktau after receiving reports of severe weather.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 also reported on social media that the aircraft had experienced GPS interference near Grozny and may have been the victim of a spoofing attack. The service posted data and video footage suggesting that the plane may have been uncontrollable during the crash.
