Air crash in Aktau: Ministry of Transport on the data from the black boxes
Tengrinews.kz - The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan made a statement about the beginning of the study of the decrypted data from the flight recorders of the plane that crashed in Aktau.
"In the coming days, members of the commission investigating the air accident are expected to arrive in Astana with decrypted materials from the flight recorders (black boxes). Upon arrival, experts will immediately begin studying the decrypted data from the said flight recorders," the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan reported.
Earlier it was reported that the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA) had completed the analysis of the aircraft's black box data. Flight data from the recorders of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane that crashed near Aktau has been extracted. It was reported that the data from the Embraer 190 was sent to the Kazakh authorities investigating the crash.
"The analysis and conclusions that will be published in the final report of this aviation investigation are the sole responsibility of the Kazakh investigative body," a Brazilian Air Force spokesman said when the recorders arrived in the country.
Baku-Grozny plane crash near Aktau: what happened?
Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Russia), crashed three kilometers from Aktau at 11:30 AM local time on December 25. The passenger flight was unable to land in Grozny due to heavy fog, first it was redirected to Makhachkala, and then to Aktau.
The official cause of the incident is still unknown. The media are spreading various theories, including a bird getting into the plane's engine, as well as an oxygen tank exploding in the cabin. The black box was found in the evening of the same day.
Investigation
An interdepartmental investigative task force has been created under the leadership of the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan. It includes specialists from the transport prosecutor's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The investigation is under the special control of the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Embraer specialists have flown to Kazakhstan.
Then, Kazakhstan has sent the black boxes from the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near Aktau to the Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA).
Decoding of black boxes from plane that crashed near Aktau started in Brazil.
Expert explains why Kazakhstan sent black boxes of crashed plane to Brazil
How many people were on board?
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there were 69 people on board, including 5 crew members:
42 citizens of Azerbaijan;
16 citizens of Russia;
6 citizens of Kazakhstan;
3 citizens of Kyrgyzstan;
two unidentified women of unknown citizenship, one about 32 years old, the other about 40 years old.
Azerbaijan Airlines also published a full list of passengers.