President Aliyev Praises Azerbaijan Airlines Crew Who Sacrifice For Passenger Safety

A ceremony of respect for pilots, co-pilots and Azarbaijan Airlines flight attendants at the Alley of Honor Cemetery attended by President Aliyev. (Twitter/@azalofficial)

JAKARTA - President Ilham Aliyev praised the sacrifice and professionalism of the crew of the airline Azerbaijan Airlines who sacrificed itself for the safety of passengers, when the plane crashed last week.

That was conveyed by President Aliyev while paying tribute at the funeral of pilot Captain Igor Kshnyakin and co-pilot Alexander Kalyaninov, both Russian nationals with Azerbaijanian citizenship and Hokuma flight attendant Aliyeva in Alley of Honour, the center of Baku City.

Praise was conveyed to flight crews who tried to make landings by paying attention to safety opportunities so 29 people survived, while pilots and co-pilots were among the 38 victims.

"The pilots are experienced and know they will not survive this emergency landing," President Aliyev said, praising them for sacrificing themselves by beating the nose of the plane first in an attempt to save some passengers.

"To save passengers, they acted very heroicly and as a result there were survivors," he said.

Bu gün Bakı aeroportunda J2-8243 nömrəli Bakı-Qroznı reysinin qəzaya uğraması nəticəsində həyatlarını itirən pilotlar İqor Kşnyakin, Aleksandr Kalyaninov və təyyarə bələdçisi Hökumə Əliyeva ilə vida mərasimi keçirilib. Mərasimdə Azərbaycan Respublikasının Prezidenti İlham Əliyev… pic.twitter.com/QYBX8MrIZr

— AZAL - Azerbaijan Airlines (@azalofficial) December 29, 2024

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Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 aircraft with flight number J2-8243 and registration 4K-AZ65 carrying 62 passengers and five crew, are on their way from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia when it crashed last Wednesday near Aktau City, Kazakhstan.

The plane is said to have crashed after turning from southern Russia, where Moscow has repeatedly used its air defense system against Ukrainian drone attacks.

The plane turned hundreds of miles across the Kaspia Sea, before crashing on the coast across the Kaspia Sea after what Russian aviation watchdogs said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

Earlier, sources familiar with the results of the preliminary investigation said the Russian air defense system was behind the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane.

Yesterday, President Aliyev said the plane was hit by gunfire by accident and had experienced electronic problems

Azerbaijan's Presidential Office said pilots had struggled to control the plane - trying desperately to find a landing site.

Captain Kshnyakin's daughter, Anastasia Kshnyakina, said her father was a very serious dedicated pilot in carrying out her responsibilities to passengers.

"My father always said: when I took off, I was responsible not only for my life, but also for the lives of all passengers and crew," said Kshnykina.

"With his last flight, he proved what a true hero should be like," he added.

With a hole in the fuselage, several crew members injured, passengers praying for their safety in a low-pressure cabin, and planes rotating out of control, pilots flying across the Kaspia Sea towards their death in an emergency landing.

Alley of Honor is the holiest modern burial place in Azerbaijan, where leading politicians, poets and scientists are buried, including Heydar Aliyev, the current president's father.