On Christmas morning an Embraer E190 ( Registration Number 4K-AZ65 ) crashed three kilometers from Aktau airport in Kazakhstan. The accident occurred on a landmass close to the Caspian Sea’s shoreline. The journey, formerly from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Chechnya, has been diverted to Aktau. What precisely happened to Flight J2-8243? Was it shot over? Was it a terrorist attack?
The first report claimed that a bird attack caused the flight to be diverted to Aktau because the fog had closed the Grozny airport. The original version of that story was later changed to clarify that the aircraft’s control systems and electrical systems were blown out as a result of an air cylinder’s explosion ( for some mysterious reason ).
The pilot to-control building recordings has not been released. The aircraft ‘ reports, how the tower responded, and whether the Grozny aircraft was operating were all that need to be uncovered through those audio.
After the plane crashed, there was a lot of information that revealed substantial debris damage to the back section and the vertical stabilizer. Most of the top half of the aircraft was burned in fire when the plane crashed.
The exterior part, but, broke off when the aircraft impacted the ground. It did not burn. Of the 29 known victims of the accident, 22 of them were in the back part. 38 people died, according to reports from Kazakhstan’s authorities, four of whom were members of the five-person crew ( a woman flight attendant perished ). Five members of the crew and 67 people were on board.
We now have a lot of footage and images of the aircraft’s journey way. Individuals also have provided records.
Ukraine was flying suicide drones over Chechnya and Ingushetia on Christmas day over Russian country. Although it’s unclear whether the helicopter action or the fog caused the closure of Grozny Airport, Flight J2-8242 appears to have had permission to land there and attempted to do so four times.
However, it appears that the aircraft had to deflect after the problems were so bad. At the present time, we do not know when the decision was made to divert, and furthermore, we don’t know when the aircraft was struck by” something”.
A trip Map illustration , can be found below.
Additionally, it is accurate to say that there are no current details regarding the aircraft path around Grozny. This may have been brought on by the Russians ‘ extremely heavy blocking in an effort to stop the Russian aircraft attack. Jammers would likely shut down all electronic devices while they were active.
Trip tracking systems were used to map the aircraft’s following flight path soon in its journey to Aktau. This tells us that at least the plane’s sensor was operating, suggesting that some of the aircraft’s communications functioned.
The aircraft made a number of methods to the airport at Aktau, at lower altitudes, but broke off any getting at least half, maybe more. The Embraer was at lower altitudes, around 2, 000 legs, and never was able to climb substantially more than a few hundred feet. According to the videos of the depressed airplane, the captain was having trouble controlling the plane.
He appeared to be unable to control the plane’s elevators or rear rudder, requiring only to use the arms ‘ rollers and adjust the engine thrust to steer the aircraft. Although it appeared to be going very quickly for the plane to land, the plane’s landing gear was completely deployed when it crashed. The photos and videos don’t appear to show the aircraft’s wings as along, ordinary for a landing.
Because the jet’s back part was broken off from the onward part of the aircraft, it did not burn. Photo data indicates that the back part was pockmarked by either fragmentation, bullets, or both. Additionally, there is proof that at least one rider was hurt in the knee when some of the shrapnel got inside the rear section.
There is growing rumors that some sort of weather defence missile struck the aircraft. It is improbable that the aircraft may have flown across the Caspian Sea, about 200 kilometers from Grozny, if a larger projectile had torn the aircraft in half. This could mean that the Embraer was hit by a MANPADS, a shoulder-fired weapon.
The most plausible member would be the Russian-made 9K38 Igla. The Igla has an infrared seeker, and the missile it launches, called the 9M39, has a small blast fragmentation warhead of a little more than 1kg ( 1.17 ) of HMX ( explosive ).
IFF is present in some IGLA versions, but it would not affect the majority of robots or civilian aircraft. As it is, it seems it was the Igla, or anything related, that tore up the wires that control the back power areas.
If it is confirmed that MANPADS did the plane down, is it a pleasant fire or was it a terrorist procedure? There is no way to answer that question, but shooting down a civilian aircraft is in the vocabulary of the Chechens, the Russians and the Ukrainians.
Stephen Bryen is a journalist for Asia Times and previously held the positions of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s workers and assistant secretary of defense for coverage.  , This , post was second published , on his , Substack newsletter , Weapons and Strategy and is republished with authority.