Aerial War in Ukraine - A Russian missile shot down a civilian aircraft. Again...
The battles over Ukraine often involve friendly fire incidents. Russian air defense has already destroyed numerous Russian aircraft and helicopters. Similar incidents have occurred on the Ukrainian side. Several civilian aircraft have also been hit in Russia, though without fatal consequences—until now.
Miro Barič
A Russian missile shot down a civilian aircraft. Again...
The battles over Ukraine often involve friendly fire incidents. Russian
air defense has already destroyed numerous Russian aircraft and
helicopters. Similar incidents have occurred on the Ukrainian side.
Several civilian aircraft have also been hit in Russia, though without
fatal consequences—until now.
Aerial War in Ukraine
A photo of the ill-fated Embraer 190AR, registration
4K
-
AZ65, taken in 2016 by Mehmet Mustafa Celik.
On the morning of Wednesday, December
25, Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 took off
from Baku, Azerbaijan. The Embraer 190AR,
registered as 4K
-
AZ65, carried 62 passengers
and five crew members. Its destination
was Grozny, Chechnya, in southern Russia.
However, 40 minutes into the flight, the
aircraft's GPS and other navigation systems
stopped functioning. It is likely that the
aircraft fell victim to electronic GPS signal
jamming, an action prohibited by international
telecommunications and civil aviation
organizations.
The Russians likely activated the jamming
due to the presence of Ukrainian drones over
Chechnya. The crew of flight 8243 requested
guidance via radio. However, Grozny was
covered in thick fog, and after three holding
patterns, the pilots decided to return to Baku.
As the aircraft departed Grozny, it was struck
by a missile from a Russian Pantsir-S1 air
defense system. The missile exploded near the
rear left section of the aircraft, with shrapnel
damaging mainly the tail surfaces.
As a result of the damage, the Embraer's
hydraulic system failed, making it extremely
difficult to control. Russian air traffic
controllers denied it permission to land at
Mineralnye Vody or Makhachkala airports
due to bad weather. Instead, the crippled
aircraft (while still experiencing GPS signal
interference) was directed over the Caspian
Sea toward Aktau, Kazakhstan. Available
data show that the aircraft exhibited extreme
altitude and course fluctuations. Despite
this, the pilots managed to keep it airborne
for one hour and 14 minutes after the missile
strike.During the attempt to land in Aktau,
the aircraft crashed three kilometers from
the airport. The crash was captured on video,
showing the aircraft descending with its
landing gear extended but tilting heavily to
the right. The pilots were unable to correct the
descent or the bank. The Embraer first struck
the ground with its right wing, followed by the
fuselage, which broke apart and exploded.
The front section burned completely, while the
rear section remained relatively intact, though
overturned. This allowed 29 of the 67 people on
board to survive, albeit with injuries. However,
38 people lost their lives, including both pilots
and one flight attendant.
Posthumously, the two pilots and the
deceased flight attendant were awarded the
The rear section of the Azerbaijani Embraer was riddled with shrapnel.
Photos of the wreckage were published by Kazakh rescue services.
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard16
February 2025