Russia’s federal air transport regulator states that the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 which crashed after diverting to Aktau had made two unsuccessful attempts to land at Grozny, the flight’s original destination.
Rosaviatsia chief Dmitry Yadrov says the situation in the vicinity of Grozny airport, at the time of the aircraft’s arrival on 25 December, was “very difficult”.
He claims Ukrainian combat drones were conducting attacks on infrastructure in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, as well as Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia.
Russian aviation regulations include a provision for air-defence authorities to issue an instruction signal – known as ‘Kover’ – which requires immediate landing or withdrawal of all aircraft, except those of the armed forces and rescue agencies, from an airspace zone in the event of an illegal intrusion.
Yadrov says this ‘Kover’ regime had been introduced to the area around Grozny which was intended to clear the airspace.
Dense fog at the airport also meant “no visibility” at a height of 500m, he adds.
The E190 captain made two attempts to land at Grozny, which were unsuccessful, and Yadrov says the crew was offered “other airports” but opted to divert to Aktau.
While trying to land at Aktau the E190, apparently experiencing flight-control problems, crashed about 3km from the airport, resulting in 38 fatalities from among the 67 occupants.
Russian authorities have offered Azerbaijani and Kazakh representatives “full and comprehensive readiness” to co-operate with the investigation.
“It is necessary to carefully and completely verify all the circumstances of the incident,” says Yadrov. “There are many different circumstances that need to be investigated together.”
Recent temporary restrictions have been alternately imposed and lifted on several Russian airports – including those in Moscow, Kazan, Volgograd, Sochi and other cities – in order to “ensure flight safety”, says Rosaviatsia.
