DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, October 9. During ameeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart IlhamAliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a number offactors that led to the crash of the AZAL aircraft,Trend reports.

The head of state said: “The first factor is that a Ukrainiandrone was present in the airspace. We were tracking three dronesthat had crossed into Russian Federation territory overnight on theday of the tragedy. The second reason involves technicalmalfunctions in Russia’s air defense system itself.”

According to him, the two missiles that were launched did notdirectly strike the aircraft — if they had, the plane would havecrashed immediately.

He emphasized that the damage was not caused by the warheadfragments themselves but most likely by debris from themissiles.

On December 25, 2024, an Embraer 190-100 IGW passenger aircraft,registered in the state register under number 4K-AZ65 and owned byAzerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL), crashed in the Republic ofKazakhstan near Aktau Airport while performing regular flightJ2-8243 from Baku (Republic of Azerbaijan) to Grozny (RussianFederation). Two crew members (the captain and co-pilot), thesenior flight attendant, and 35 passengers were lost in thecrash.

The preliminary report published by the Ministry of Transport ofKazakhstan confirms the following facts:

1. The Embraer 190-100 IGW passenger aircraft, registered underthe number 4K-AZ65 and owned by Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL),operating a regular flight J2-8243 from Baku, Republic ofAzerbaijan to Grozny, Russian Federation, has been in a fullyoperational condition since the start of the flight on the route toGrozny. in good condition for flights. These data on theairworthiness of the aircraft, including the operation of itscontrol systems, were confirmed using FDR data;

2. Both engines of the aircraft were operating without technicalproblems until the moment of the accident. This information is alsoconfirmed by FDR data;

3. During the flight in the airspace of the Russian Federation,including over Grozny Airport, the aircraft lost GPS signals;

4. Due to adverse weather conditions over Grozny, the aircraftwas unable to make a second approach for landing, after which thecaptain decided to return to Baku. After this decision was madeover Grozny, two external sounds were recorded on the CVR at24-second intervals;

5. A comparison of CVR and FDR data showed that 4 seconds afterthe first external sound, the third hydraulic system failed, 6seconds later the first hydraulic system failed, and 21 secondslater the second hydraulic system failed;

6. Numerous blunt and penetrating damages to the fuselage werefound and recorded in photographs and video recordings. This damagewas found in the rear of the fuselage, the vast majority of whichwas on the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, as well as the leftwing and left engine.

7. Information was provided that the damage found in theaircraft fuselage was caused by external objects. The preliminaryreport does not contain any information indicating that theaircraft collided with birds.

8. Foreign objects not belonging to the aircraft, found in theblind damage to the fuselage, were removed; their photographs arepresented to the public in the preliminary report. To accuratelydetermine the origin of the foreign objects found, additionalexaminations are planned in the future.

9. At 05:13:32, the aircraft's main control systems failed; at05:21:42, the liaison officer reported to Grozny that OperationCarpet was underway.

10. No information indicating an oxygen cylinder explosion hasbeen provided.

Under the requirements of the ICAO Chicago Convention, a finalreport on the causes of the crash must be prepared within one yearof the incident, following the preliminary report.