Update: Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243

 

Yesterday, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243, an Embraer ERJ-190, crashed at an airport in Aktau, Kazakhstan while attempting an emergency landing. The flight was enroute from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia but diverted to Aktau due to weather. It was during this diversion that the plane allegedly experienced some sort of casualty and issues with their GPS system, which prompted the emergency landing. There were 29 survivors.

Now, we are learning of a potentially non-mechanical cause. Today, Azerbaijani media reported that shrapnel from a Russian missile defense system struck the plane and that an electronic warfare system jammed the plane’s communication systems before the crash.

Why is this important? For those of us that travel internationally, we have to be aware of things like this. If this was found to be intentional, then it may be one more example of bad actors attempting to destabilize the region and cause global fear and panic. I’d like to expand on this more in the future. 

A link to a great write-up by Airways Magazine is below:

https://www.airwaysmag.com/new-post/azerbaijan-officials-crash-russian-defense?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1yJthvGIPULJzvTC4vo_TB5O9_lbWQ1sssYCYxWBM5Tj4I7fqa8jb_paM_aem_qWspkGOjLa9V2Xet8Yf-1w