Bird strike, Russian missiles among Azerbaijan plane crash conspiracies

As investigators cite a possible bird strike for the plane crash, viral videos and social media speculation raise questions about shrapnel damage and a potential Russian defense system involvement

Preliminary investigations into the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 near Kazakhstan indicate that the accident might have been due to a bird strike, but conspiracy theories on social media suggest the plane was brought down by a Russian air defense system.

 

Preliminary investigations into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 indicate that a bird strike may have caused the accident. However, conspiracy theories circulating on social media suggest that the plane was brought down by a Russian air defense system.

 

The flight, en route from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region, had 67 passengers and five crew members onboard. Tragically, 38 people lost their lives when the plane crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan.

 

Reports indicate the aircraft was circling over Aktau airport, awaiting permission for an emergency landing. However, the plane crashed during the emergency landing. Viral videos of the wreckage have added fuel to speculation, showing holes in the fuselage that some claim resembles ‘shrapnel damage’, hinting at a possible missile strike.

 

One video even showed holes like bullet marks in a life jacket recovered from the aircraft. According to a Daily Mail report, the crew first thought the damage was caused by a bird strike. However, they later considered the possibility of an oxygen tank explosion in the cockpit, which could have shattered the fuselage into pieces.

 

Social media has been flooded with theories of unverified claims which suggest the plane was mistakenly intercepted by Russian defense systems. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), defense analyst James J Marlow said that an interception of Ukrainian drones by Grozny might be the cause of the plane crash.

 

Flight path data from FlightRadar24 shows the aircraft flying over Dagestan before disappearing from the tracker. It reappeared an hour later over western Kazakhstan, shortly before the crash. This disappearance has further fuelled suspicions about the plane’s exposure to Russian defense systems. 

Chilling footage from the moments before the crash has surfaced online. A video shared by Russian media outlet RT shows the chaos inside the plane as passengers grappled with the unfolding disaster. One passenger was seen bleeding from the head, while another tried to open an exit. In another video, a man prayed while others panicked amid the deafening noise of the engines.