Azerbaijan Airlines Crash Caused by Foreign Object Damage (Official Report)
ALMATY (Kazakhstan), February 5, 2025 – Kazakhstan’s authorities reported on Tuesday that the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft that crashed in Kazakhstan at the end of December, resulting in 38 fatalities, was likely damaged by “foreign objects.”
On December 25, the plane was operating Flight 8243 from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in the Caucasus. The aircraft crashed over the Caspian Sea near Aktau in Kazakhstan, far from its intended destination, claiming the lives of 38 of the 67 people on board.
Initially, the black boxes from the Embraer-manufactured aircraft were sent to Brazil for analysis with the involvement of Azerbaijani, Russian, and Kazakh experts before being returned to Kazakhstan.
A preliminary report released on Tuesday by the Kazakh Ministry of Transport details numerous damages of various sizes and shapes on multiple parts of the aircraft, including the fuselage, left wing, and left engine. According to the report, the aircraft was likely impacted by “foreign objects,” although their exact nature has not yet been identified.
The 53-page document indicates that “investigations and examinations” will be conducted to ascertain the nature and origin of these damages. A transcript of an exchange with air traffic controllers includes a crew member mentioning a “strong impact” and noting that oxygen levels were beginning to deplete.
