Pilot hailed as hero in Kazakhstan crash amid fog, bird strike
After the tragic plane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, residents of Baku laid flowers at the entrance to the home of pilot Igor Kshnyakin, who did everything he could to save the passengers.
On Wednesday, an Azerbaijan Airlines plane was flying from the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, to Grozny in Chechnya, southern Russia. The aircraft crashed while attempting to land near Aktau, Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 deaths and 29 injuries.
Most of the passengers were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russians and several citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on board. According to information from Russia, the cause of the tragedy was dense fog, which forced the plane to change its planned landing spot in Grozny and attempt to land in Kazakhstan, where the aircraft reportedly struck a flock of birds.
American experts and officials indicate evidence that Russian air defense was operational over Grozny at that time in response to a Ukrainian drone attack. Specialists from the Osprey aviation safety agency and military analyst Ruslan Leviev suggest the plane might have been hit by an anti-aircraft system.
Photos that surfaced online show that the front of the plane was destroyed, and the tail shows impact marks, which may align with the operation of an anti-aircraft system. The investigation into the cause of the tragedy is ongoing. The surviving passengers and airport staff have already been questioned.
The transportation prosecutor for the Mangystau region reported that the second black box from the Azerbaijan Airlines plane has been found. Abylajbek Ordabayev added that the recording of the conversation between the plane crew and the control tower is also under analysis.
Residents of Baku hung a flag outside the pilot's home
An official Telegram channel published a video showing residents of Baku laying flowers and hanging a flag at the entrance to the home of the deceased pilot Igor Kshnyakin. He was the captain of the Baku-Grozny flight.
Kshnyakin was an experienced pilot, having spent over 15,000 hours in aircraft, more than 11,000 of which were as a captain.
According to media reports, experts agree that in the emergency situation, the plane's pilots took the right actions to save as many passengers as possible. As video recordings show, the pilots tried to safely land until the very last moment.
