Did Russia shoot down Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan? Internet flooded with conspiracy theories

While a preliminary probe into the crash of the Azerbaijani Airlines plane Embraer 190 near Kazakhstan suggested that a bird collision led to the unfortunate incident, conspiracy theories of a Russian air defence attack on the plane are rife on social media.

As many as 67 passengers and five crew members were onboard the flight, which left from Azerbaijan’s Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya. Of these, 38 people were killed in the crash near western Kazakhstan’s Aktau.

The embraer EMB 190 of Azerbaijan Airlines was circling over the Aktau airport while awaiting permission to make an emergency landing. Reportedly, the plane crashed when it was making the emergency landing.

What are the rumours saying?

Now, purported videos of the plane, showing holes in the fuselage, are going viral on social media. The suspicious holes have led to rumours that the aircraft might have been shot down by Russians. Netizens suggested that the holes seemed to be “shrapnel damage”.

One such video also showed bullet-like holes on a life jacket inside the plane.

According to a Daily Mail report, the crew reported a strong impact on the hull, which is essentially the fuselage.

Initially, they assumed that it was a bird flock attack, but later, it was said that it was an explosion of an oxygen tank, whose supply was connected to the cockpit in case of depressurization.

This explosion supposedly caused massive damage to the hull, leading to its “scattering into fragments”, the report added.

Suggestions on social media also said that the “evidence” hinted to prove that the plane was likely “mistakenly intercepted by Russian defence systems”. One such post by foreign and defence analyst James J Marlow on X said, citing unconfirmed reports, that the incident took place while the defence systems were intercepting Ukrainian drones in Grozny.

As per the aircraft’s path on Flight Radar 24, it was first flying over the republic of Dagestan, after which it disappeared from the tracker. This reportedly hinted towards the plane’s exposure to Russian air defense systems.

The aircraft, however, showed up on the radar once again after one hour and was seen flying over western Kazakhstan before its crash.

Meanwhile, footages of the last moments before the crash have also been doing the rounds on social media. A passenger aboard the flight captured the terrifying moments before and after the mishap, revealing how chaotic it was inside the plane.

In the footage shared by Russian media outlet RT, a passenger was seen bleeding from the head, while another attempted to exit the aircraft.

Videos showed a man praying before the crash as others rumbled in panic amid the roar of the aircraft’s engine in the background.