(Image source from: x.com/ani_digital)

Azerbaijan has declared a day of mourning after the domestic airline crashed on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia are investigating Wednesday morning's crash landing that killed at least 38 people. This plane crashed about three kilometers from the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. The plane flew from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Russia's southern Chechen region. Embraer 190 (flight number J2-8243) had 62 passengers and 5 crew members. Kazakh authorities said the plane's passengers and crew were citizens of four countries: 42 Azerbaijani nationals, 16 Russian nationals, 6 Kazakh nationals and three Kyrgyz nationals. 32 survivors, including two children, are hospitalized, many of them in critical condition. Initial reports and video footage indicated many were pulled from the carcass, but some were bleeding.

Qanat Buzonbayev, Kazakhstan's deputy prime minister, announced that 38 people were killed. The Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing the emergency services present at the scene of the accident, that initial investigations had shown that two pilots were killed in the accident. The Russian Aviation Observatory announced on Telegram that the plane crash was due to an “emergency situation” on the plane after it hit a bird. Due to heavy fog, the aircraft changed its original route and made an emergency landing at the planned destination in Grozny. Civil aviation tracking websites recorded the flight flying north on a planned route over the West Coast before disappearing. It then reappeared on the east coast and circled near Aktau Airport before crashing. “According to initial reports, the plane requested to land at another airport due to heavy fog in Grozny before the accident,” Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova reported from Moscow.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a statement: "According to the information available to me, due to deteriorating weather conditions, an AZAL plane flying on the Baku-Grozny route changed its route and crashed to Aktao airport for landing". The nearest one Russia's Makhachkala airport was closed earlier in the day due to drone activity, FlightRadar24 said in an online post that there was severe GPS interference in the area are related to previous accidents, complicate navigation and may have contributed to the crash. Aliyev acknowledged that there were several theories about the cause of the plane crash, but urged caution in speculation.

The President of Azerbaijan said: The video of the plane crash was published in the media and social networks and is visible to everyone, but the reason for the plane crash is still unknown. There are various theories, but I think it is still too early for emergency services to actively respond to this situation. Firefighters are extinguishing the fire caused by the plane crash and 150 rescue and medical teams, including specialists flown in from Astana, are treating the injured. Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended all flights between Baku and Grozny and between Baku and Makhachkala. until the investigation is completed. The airline has also set up a hotline for passengers' families and posted the names of all passengers on its social pages.

Aliyev also signed a decree declaring December 26 a public day of mourning in the country. At the time, Azerbaijan's president said he had flown to Russia to attend the summit and received news of the mid-air crash. “I ordered the plane to return to Baku immediately,” Aliyev said in a statement released by his office. Authorities in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia said they were investigating the crash. The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan said in a statement: An investigative team led by the Deputy Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan has been deployed to Kazakhstan and is working at the site of the plane crash.

Azerbaijan's state news agency said the team sent to Aktau for an "on-site inspection" included Azerbaijan's emergency minister and the deputy head of Azerbaijan Airlines. Azartak said the plane's black box, a flight recorder used by investigators to determine the cause of the crash, had been recovered. “A criminal case has been opened,” Aliyev said in a statement, adding that the population of Azerbaijan “will be regularly informed about the progress of the investigation.” Kazakhstan has set up a government commission to investigate the causes of the disaster and ensure that the families of the dead and injured receive the necessary support. The investigation is focused on possible technical problems and the closure of nearby airspace. The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has announced that it will cooperate with the investigation.