An Azerbaijan Airlines plane was spotted crashing next to the Aktau Airport on Wednesday, moments before it spontaneously combusted. 39 passengers were killed while 29 survived. At the time, 67 people were aboard, including 62 passengers and five staffers.
Now, a video that depicts a passenger's final moments before the plane came crashing down is doing the rounds online. While the video opens up with people visibly tensed and anxious, it cuts to the aftermath of the situation, where the plane is on fire and paramedics are on-site.
The video has since drawn genuine reactions, with a mix of sympathy, prayers, and some noting how bone-chilling the clip is. Here's what one user tweeted:
"Absolutely chilling. The final moments of a flight captured on camera, sent to loved ones, and then tragedy strikes. It’s remarkable that there are survivors amidst such devastation. Thoughts are with those affected—and with the pilots, who likely gave everything in those final moments trying to save lives."
Even more chimed in:
"Man survived and said crew did everything to prepare them for impact, working till last moment," someone commended.
"these pilots managed to safe almost 30 lives that day, big honor to them," another lauded.
"Awful. Hopefully investigation results will be released soon," a third person prayed.
"I wouldn’t leave anything to chance with a flight going down in Russia. But a miracle that there were survivors," someone speculated.
The comments didn't end there, as users also began speculating about the reason for the plane going down:
"'m going to speculate a loss of hydraulics to the tail, not sure "why". Very very early but I say that because of the porpoising he appears to be doing near the end," one user posited.
"Pilots tried to pull up at the final moments to level the plane and have it less of a head-on collision and at best a crash landing - which was kind of achieved. My thoughts. God bless their souls as well as the souls of the deceased. Very unfortunate," another stated.
"Terrifying! It's a Christmas miracle that anyone survived!" someone else declared.
"Why does it look like the tail and fuselage have shrapnel holes everywhere? Why does the inside of the the plane before the crash look like that? That doesn’t happen from a bird strike," one more added.
Scores online believed that the side of the plane was blanketed in shrapnel holes.
What we know about the Kazakhstan plane crash so far:
In the clip, a man can be seen looking worried, as those around him are praying loudly, looking worried and tense. In one clip, he pans the camera to the front of the aircraft, and a few oxygen masks can be seen hanging from the overhead compartment.
The rest of the video shows people reeling from the crash. While some men are coughing, others are sitting on the ground, visibly weak and shaken up. Paramedics can be seen tending to those in need, while plumes of smoke go billowing into the air.
Bodies are strewn across the barren land, and while a young man limps, another woman cries. As for the plane, half of the body has been decimated, with only its left wing looking intact. Per CBS News, both pilots were killed in the collision.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the pilots tried to make an emergency landing due to a bird strike. The Embraer 190 aircraft was initially headed to Grozny, Russia, coming in from Baku, Azerbaijan, though it had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
Per the outlet, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev issued a formal statement at a press conference on the day of, noting that it was too early to speculate about the crash:
"The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing," he said.
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Per CBS News, Kazakh officials have revealed that there were 42 Azerbaijani citizens aboard the flight, 16 Russian nationals, 6 from Kazakh, and 3 from Kyrgyzstan.
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