December 25, 2024 - An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed near the Aktau city of Kazakhstan today bursting into flames. There were 67 passengers, including five crew members, on board flight J2-8243. Initial reports say there are 28 survivors of whom 22 have been hospitalised.

The Embraer 190 plane was flying from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya (Russia). However, it was re-routed due to fog in Grozny. The reason for the crash is yet unknown but reports say that the pilot had requested emergency landing.

The Kazakh Transport Ministry said the plane “made an emergency landing” around three kilometres from Aktau.

A flight tracking website showed the aircraft over the Caspian Sea and moving towards Grozny. Once it entered the Russian territory, it began circling near the airport and asked for emergency landing. It crashed near the Caspian Sea, a few kms from the airport. Video on social media show the plane, rapidly losing height, nose-diving and bursting into flames.

The passenger list show 37 of them were from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgystan and 16 from Russia.