Survivor of the Aktau plane crash shared how it all happened

Tengrinews.kz - A passenger of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane that crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, during flight J28243 from Baku to Grozny, has told how everything happened, citing "Anadolu."

Subhonkul Rakhimov described the events leading up to the crash and the crew's efforts to assist passengers on the distressed aircraft.

A native of Tajikistan, Rakhimov has lived in Russia for 24 years, where he also obtained citizenship.

"I was dozing off before that moment, then I felt as though the plane was gaining altitude. I opened my eyes and saw fog. There was fog below, and nothing was visible. I assumed we were probably going for a second approach to land," Rakhimov recounted.

He was led to believe the plane would attempt to land on the second try due to the captain’s maneuvers.

"This is my assumption. Whether it was Grozny, I can't say for sure because I didn’t see it. I can only speculate," he clarified.

Immediately after the explosion, he said, some oxygen masks dropped. He also noticed damage to the paneling. The aircraft shook violently, followed by what the survivor described as a long climb in altitude.

The plane eventually leveled off and continued flying at a lower altitude, Rakhimov told the agency.

"After some time, the sea appeared, and the weather seemed clearer. I could see the sea, but the plane started behaving strangely," Rakhimov recounted.

According to the survivor, after the "bang," the aircraft seemed uncontrollable, "swaying and shaking."

"It felt like it was becoming less and less manageable," Rakhimov said.

Passengers at that moment began to realize that these might be their final moments, Subhonkul Rakhimov shared. He prayed, recited the Shahada, and performed Namaz while seated in his chair.

The man explained that after the plane crashed, he did not lose consciousness. He recalled being thrown back several times and hitting his head.

"I remember seeing fire in front of my eyes, a kind of yellow flame. And then... it was just seconds, just a few seconds. After that, everything went silent. Absolutely quiet. I was in shock that I was alive," Rakhimov recalled, reflecting on the tragic moments following the crash.

According to Rakhimov, the plane's tail section was thrown very far upon impact with the ground. At the time, he was seated in seat 39, located in the tail of the aircraft.

He expressed deep admiration for the resilience and composure of the flight attendant, who continued to perform her duties until the very end, speaking to passengers and trying to calm them down, "not hiding in a corner or panicking."

"She held up remarkably well. Her voice, a distressed voice, can be heard in my recording as she speaks in Azerbaijani. I don’t understand Azerbaijani, but she was calming people down. She followed protocol to the end. That flight attendant kept talking to people in the cabin until the very last moment," he said.

A few minutes after the crash, Rakhimov freed himself from his seatbelt. Around him, as he described, there was "chaos"—some were groaning, while others managed to stand and exit the wreckage on their own.

The surviving flight attendants were injured, and the male steward was barely conscious and speaking weakly.

"I asked them, 'Is there an emergency exit here that can be opened quickly?' They were still in shock, disoriented, and I didn’t get an answer," Rakhimov recounted.

Two women were trapped in their seats. Rakhimov tried to help them but couldn’t, and at that moment, an ambulance arrived.

He also expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for their swift response, timely assistance to the injured passengers, and the visit from the deputy minister at the hospital.

Baku-Grozny plane crash near Aktau: what happened?

Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Russia), crashed three kilometers from Aktau at 11:30 AM local time on December 25. The passenger flight was unable to land in Grozny due to heavy fog, first it was redirected to Makhachkala, and then to Aktau.

The official cause of the incident is still unknown. The media are spreading various theories, including a bird getting into the plane's engine, as well as an oxygen tank exploding in the cabin. The black box was found in the evening of the same day, now experts will have to decipher its data.

Investigation

An interdepartmental investigative task force has been created under the leadership of the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan. It includes specialists from the transport prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The investigation is under the special control of the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Embraer specialists have flown to Kazakhstan.

How many people were on board?

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there were 69 people on board, including 5 crew members:

• 42 citizens of Azerbaijan;
• 16 citizens of Russia;
• 6 citizens of Kazakhstan;
• 3 citizens of Kyrgyzstan;
• two unidentified women of unknown citizenship, one about 32 years old, the other about 40 years old.

Azerbaijan Airlines also published a full list of passengers.

What is known about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near Aktau?

The aircraft that crashed near Aktau was an Embraer ERJ-190, a twin-engine jet widely used for short and medium-haul flights. The aircraft are manufactured by a Brazilian company. The ERJ-190 (E190) is designed to carry between 96 and 114 passengers, depending on the cabin configuration. These aircraft can fly up to 4500 kilometers.