David retweetledi
Crash of #Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243:
Background: The pilots attempted to land at Grozny two times in the fog and failed. On the third attempt, passengers heard an explosion after which one stated that "the (plane's) skin next to me flew off." Because they were on approach and below 10,000', the cabin did not initially depressurize a the piece of shrapnel shrapnel which penetrated the fuselage knocked one oxygen mask out of its compartment (see image 1). Shrapnel also damage to one of the port flap fairings (see image 2) the plane's horizontal and vertical stabilizers (see image 3).
The crew took immediate emergency action and began gaining altitude and flying in whatever direction they could while they determined the extent of the damage and how they could take partial control of the aircraft. The aircraft eventually started heading east over the Caspian Sea towards Kazakhstan where the crew attempted an emergency landing at the Aktau Airport. The pilots had to land the plane using the two engines and ailerons to steer while adjusting speed and the flaps to maintain or change altitude -- a very difficult and dangerous situation to be in. And, although the plane did crash, the bravery and training of the pilots saved multiple lives.
Conclusion: A Russian or Chechen AD crew mistook the aircraft as an enemy target and fired a SAM at it (possibly a manpads). The SAM exploded by proximity fuse sending a burst of shrapnel into the epinnage, port wing and the port fuselage resulting the loss of control of the rudder and elevators.
#OSINT #Ukraine #Russian
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