El Al suspends flights to Moscow due to downed AZAL plane

Due to reports that the Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 Baku-Grozny was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile on December 25, the Israeli airline El Al decided to temporarily suspend flights to Moscow.

According to the specialized Telegram channel AviationNewsIL, at this stage we are talking about suspending flights for a week. During the week, El Al will monitor developments and the progress of the investigation into the plane crash near Aktau, and based on the results of the assessment of the situation, a decision will be made to resume flights or extend the period of their cancellation.

Passengers on El Al flights who have purchased tickets to Moscow for the coming week should receive notifications.

Let us remind you that, according to sources from Euronews and the Azerbaijani publication AnewZ, a missile from the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile system was fired at an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane.

The missile was fired at a civilian aircraft during drone flights over Grozny, it exploded near the aircraft, and fragments hit passengers and crew members. The damaged plane was not allowed to land at any Russian airport, despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and the crew was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.

According to reports, the aircraft’s GPS navigation systems were blocked throughout the flight over the sea. The version that the Russian authorities hoped that the plane would fall into the sea, and thus the evidence could be hidden, has not been officially voiced.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan reported that there were 69 people on board the Embraer 190AR of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), which crashed near Aktau, including five crew members. At the same time, Azerbaijan Airlines stated that there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board: 42 citizens of Azerbaijan (including crew), 16 from Russia, 6 from Kazakhstan, 3 from Kyrgyzstan.

At least 29 of them, including two children, survived. They were closer to the tail of the plane. At first it was reported that the entire flight crew of the plane was killed. However, on the morning of December 26, it was announced that two crew members had survived.

Let us note that the surviving Russians on board the plane were very quickly taken from Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation. Russian media report that they are now in the Moscow region. The Federal Air Transport Agency continues to insist on the version that the plane collided with birds; after an emergency situation arose on board, the commander decided to leave for an alternate airfield in Aktau.