U.S. Diplomat Visited the AZAL Plane Crash Site in Aktau

Ashley Towers, Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, visited the crash site of an Azerbaijani airline AZAL plane in Aktau, Kazakhstan, as part of a regional visit.

The message about this was posted on the official Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan.

"We have concluded the Kazakhstani leg of the U.S. business delegation's visit to the Middle Corridor. Before leaving Aktau, Natig Bakhyshov, Executive Director of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC), and Ashley Towers, Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan, visited the site of the AZAL passenger plane crash. There, we honored the memory of the civilians who died in this tragedy. Debris from the plane is still scattered across the area, and this scene remains a sad reminder of the lives lost,” the diplomatic mission’s message states.

On December 25, 2024, an Embraer-190 aircraft belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan. There were 62 passengers and five crew members on board; only 29 people survived.

According to the preliminary report from Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport on the results of the disaster investigation, "the damage found in the aircraft's fuselage was caused by the impact of external objects." In Baku, they are convinced that the plane was unintentionally shot down by Russian air defense systems.

Baku is demanding that Moscow acknowledge responsibility for the downed plane, apologize, punish those responsible, and pay compensation to the airline, the injured, and the victims' families.