Preliminary cause of the plane crash in Aktau has been named
Tengrinews.kz - The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has identified the cause of the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Aktau.
According to Rosaviatsiya, the cause of the crash of the Embraer 190 passenger plane at the Aktau airport in Kazakhstan may have been a bird strike.
"Today, at around 09:30 Moscow time, near the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, during the approach for landing at Aktau airport, the Embraer 190 aircraft of Azerbaijan's AZAL airline crashed to the ground. Preliminary information indicates that after a bird strike and an emergency situation on board, the aircraft's captain decided to divert to a nearby airfield – Aktau was chosen," stated Rosaviatsiya.
Earlier, Azerbaijani news portals reported that the cause of the plane crash in Aktau was a collision with a flock of birds.
According to preliminary official information, there were 67 people on board. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there are survivors among the passengers.
According to Minister of Healthcare Akmaral Alnazarova, 14 ambulance teams were dispatched to the crash site in Aktau.
The Health Department of the Mangstau Region reported that 12 people (one of whom is a child) with various injuries were taken to the regional hospital from the crash site.
By this time, rescuers have extinguished the fire at the crash site in Aktau.