Baku, January 6, AZERTAC

On January 6, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with the families of the crew members who lost their lives and the surviving flight attendants from the crash of an Embraer 190 passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC on the Baku-Grozny route.

Addressing the meeting, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- On 25 December, an AZAL passenger plane flying on the Baku-Grozny route lost control, sustained damage, and became almost uncontrollable due to an external impact near the city of Grozny. Thanks to the professionalism, heroism, and dedication of the pilots, the plane managed to make an emergency landing in the city of Aktau. The efforts of the pilots and all crew members have been highly appreciated by the Azerbaijani state. By my order, after the farewell ceremony for the crew members, three crew members—two pilots and one flight attendant—were posthumously awarded the title of National Hero, while two flight attendants received the Order of Rashadat of the 1st Category. If the pilots had not demonstrated professionalism and heroism, there would have been no survivors in this accident.

As you know, a State Commission has been established and is currently operational. Additionally, on my instructions, the Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan has opened a criminal case. The preliminary investigation of the case once again confirms the theory I mentioned. We had already received preliminary information about this on 29 December, and in an interview with Azerbaijan State Television after the farewell ceremony, I conveyed to the Azerbaijani people both my own views and the information provided by the investigation. I stated that the Azerbaijani public would be regularly updated on the progress of the investigation.

Working groups of the Prosecutor's Office were dispatched to both Grozny and Aktau, where they carried out operational work. I repeat, there is preliminary information. Naturally, we will provide the Azerbaijani public with full information after the investigation has been completed. However, I would like to bring to your attention one point that I stated on 29 December. In Grozny, the “Kovyor operation”, i.e. an operation to close the airspace, was announced after the plane was shot at from the ground. This once again shows that there are very serious criminal issues here. Usually, if there is a threat to the airspace of any country, the airspace of that country is immediately closed. This happens in all countries and has different names. In Russia, it is called “Kovyor operation”. If there was a threat to Russian airspace, the captain of the plane should have been informed about it immediately. The airspace should have been closed immediately and the plane should have turned back. I should also note that about 10 days before the accident, a similar incident occurred near the city of Grozny. An AZAL plane was turned back halfway. Why was the crew not warned about it this time? Naturally, the investigation will show this. I want to say again that the information we have is based on the truth. The cover-up of this incident by Russian state agencies and the focus on absurd theories causes surprise, regret, and rightful indignation. Innocent people died. I repeat that it is precisely thanks to the heroism of the pilots and crew members that about 30 people survived this accident, several of whom were seriously injured. I should also note that the majority of those killed in the accident were Azerbaijani citizens. At the same time, citizens of Russia and Kazakhstan also died. Citizens of Kyrgyzstan were injured.

I spoke about the heroism of the crew members during the farewell ceremony. I want to say again that this is a truly great sacrifice. I said that most likely the pilots knew that they would not survive this accident. They were experienced pilots, and thanks purely to their professionalism they managed to bring the plane, which was out of control, down somehow even though it had to make an emergency landing. They were able to land the plane. The other members of the crew – the flight attendants – also showed composure. They showed great courage to prevent chaos on the plane. They also saw and knew what awaited them. They probably did not even hope that they would be able to get out of this situation safely. To behave with restraint, composure, and courage in such a situation, of course, once again demonstrates their high qualities, especially considering that two of the flight attendants were women.

The process of opening the black boxes has begun. At our insistence, this process is being carried out in Brazil. I said in my television interview on 29 December that despite all the proposals and insistence, we categorically objected to the Interstate Aviation Committee opening the black boxes. Because objectivity could be in question there. Legally speaking, there could be a conflict of interest here. Therefore, an analysis of the black boxes has been started in Brazil with the participation of representatives of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, and information about this will probably be disclosed in the near future. Of course, all the issues that remain outstanding to this day will also be revealed. The issues that are clear as day are that the plane was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare equipment. Another issue that is clear to us is that the plane was damaged by fire from the ground. But why was the plane sent to Aktau? We do not yet have information about this. Did this happen based on a decision made by local dispatchers or did the pilots themselves realize that electronic warfare equipment would no longer allow them to land in Russian airspace and made this choice themselves? We do not yet have information about this. Of course, all this information will be available after the black boxes have been opened. Considering the actions of the crew members, I would like to note again that the Azerbaijani state has awarded them high honors.

I would like to once again express my condolences to the families of the crew members, as well as to the families of all those who died in the plane crash. It was thanks to the professionalism and fearlessness of the crew and their heroism that about 30 people were saved.

You may also be following the way this tragic news is covered in the world media. Among other things, literally all experts highlight the professionalism and heroism of the pilots, as well as the high qualities of all other crew members. Because making an emergency landing and reaching the shore on a plane that was practically uncontrollable due to external impact in Russian airspace required both true professionalism and heroism. No one panicked, although, as I said, the crew members realized that there was virtually no chance of survival. The pilots were probably sure that this was their last flight, but they did everything in their power to save people’s lives. That is heroism. If there are criteria of heroism and self-sacrifice, it is what the pilots did.

The Azerbaijani state has always appreciated the activities and heroism of its sons and daughters. This time, too, the heroism of the crew was also acknowledged. Three of the crew members were posthumously awarded the high title of National Hero, while the two surviving crew members were also awarded high state honors. This may be a small consolation for the families who lost their loved ones, but it is also the attitude of the Azerbaijani state towards its citizens. Every deceased person is dear not only for their relatives, for their family, but also for the Azerbaijani state. And the way we promptly reacted to this, the principled manner in which we acted in this situation goes to show that the life of every Azerbaijani citizen is priceless for us and we will demand justice and the punishment of those responsible for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster. If timely measures had been taken to close the Russian airspace near the city of Grozny, if all the rules of ground services had been observed, as well as proper coordination between the armed forces of the Russian Federation and civilian services, this tragedy would not have happened.

I do not want to disclose all the materials of the criminal case at this point. The initial investigation and its results have been reported to me, but I can say with full certainty that the blame for the deaths of Azerbaijani citizens in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand full transparency and human behavior.

The fact that the black boxes were sent to Brazil also shows that we demand objectivity. I already spoke about this after the farewell ceremony for the crew. If we had seen attempts on the part of the official circles of the Russian Federation to objectively investigate this tragedy from the very first minutes or hours, we would most likely have agreed to the decoding of the black boxes by the Interstate Aviation Committee. We have been cooperating with this structure for decades, we have been cooperating with it quite actively. And this structure was essentially in charge of investigating airplane crashes in the former USSR. But when we saw attempts to hush up the case, to brush it off to some birds or a gas cylinder explosion, both I and the Azerbaijani public started to have serious doubts about the objectivity of the investigation by this structure, of course. The black boxes are being decoded now, and I am sure that we will find out preliminary results in the near future and everything will fall into place. The whole picture of the tragedy will be clear. And this, of course, will be an important part of the full investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible for it.

I have invited members of the families of the victims, as well as members of the crew, in order to personally present these high awards to you, once again express my condolences to you and say that the Azerbaijani state will always stand by your side. I would like to ask you to rest assured that, in any situation in your lives, the strong Azerbaijan state is behind you. The Ministry of Digital Development and Transportation, as well as “Azerbaijan Airlines”, have been instructed to be in constant touch with you, so that any issues of concern to you can be solved promptly.

Once again, please accept my condolences, and rest assured that we will see this investigation through to its conclusion.

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The event continued with an awards ceremony.