A passenger plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed in Aktau in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Azerbaijani media reported.
The Embraer 190 aircraft gave a distress call due to a collision with birds, which led to a malfunction in the steering. This caused the craft to drastically reduce its speed.
Local residents witnessed the tragedy and filmed the moment the plane crashed and collapsed. The published video shows that during the emergency landing, the board caught fire and collapsed into pieces.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said its staff had put out the fire that broke out when the plane crashed. The ministry also added:
“According to preliminary information, 28 survivors, including two children, have been hospitalised.”
A total of 62 passengers and five crew members were on board, according to official data. According to the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, 37 citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 citizens of Russia, six citizens of Kazakhstan and three citizens of Kyrgyzstan were on board.
Embraer 190 (in IATA classification – E-90) is a civilian medium-range passenger aircraft for medium-range transportations for 3-4 thousand kilometres, created in Brazil. It belongs to the newest family of aircraft. The first flight took place on March 12, 2004. In the market, this aircraft competes with Boeing 717-200, Boeing 737-600 and Airbus A318, Airbus A319.
