On December 25, 2024, the world was shaken by the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, en route from Baku to Grozny.
The plane, a 2013 Embraer 190 aircraft, departed from Baku, Azerbaijan, with 62 passengers and five crew members on board. But due to poor weather conditions, the flight was diverted to Aktau, Kazakhstan. Shortly after the diversion, the aircraft crashed during an emergency landing attempt.
The plane crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, resulting in 38 fatalities.
Among the survivors, the man managed to capture harrowing footage of the crash and its aftermath, providing a rare and invaluable perspective on the incident.
In the midst of the chaos, the man managed to record footage of the crash and its immediate aftermath.
The video begins with the plane's descent, capturing the terrifying moments as the aircraft plummets toward the ground. Upon impact, the footage transitions to scenes of the wreckage, with survivors emerging from the debris, some visibly injured, others in shock. The video offers a raw and unfiltered look into the human experience during such a catastrophic event.
The man, a Muslim, who praised Allah after he escaped with only minor facial injuries, has chosen to remain anonymous, understandably so given the traumatic nature of the experience.
The release of the footage has elicited a profound response from the public and media.
News outlets have disseminated the videos, highlighting the resilience of the survivors and the severity of the crash.
The incident has prompted investigations by authorities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia.
While initial theories pointed to a bird strike, but further investigations have raised suspicions of external interference.
This happens following the realization of the plane "exposed to strong GPS jamming and spoofing" while flying near Grozny. This occurrence however is not uncommon on flights that enter Russian airspace during the height of its tension with Ukraine.
But what raised suspicion was the discovery of an exploded oxygen tank that led to speculations that the jet may have been hit by Russian anti-aircraft defenses. Witnesses, as well as some people on the ground reported that they heard a loud nice from inside the plane before the plane plummeted to its doom, with some saying that the explosion ripped part of its fuselage.
Then, people speculated that the plane might have been falsely targeted due to the holes that are seen throughout the fuselage, presumably caused by bullets or shrapnels.
The crash occurred amidst heightened tensions following a Ukrainian drone strike in southern Russia, with some theorizing the plane was mistakenly targeted.
Initial reports suggested a bird strike as the cause, but further investigations have raised suspicions of external interference, possibly from Russian anti-aircraft defenses.
The crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 is a somber reminder of the inherent risks of air travel.
The survivor's footage serves as a poignant testament to human resilience and the will to survive. As investigations continue, the aviation community and the public await answers to the questions surrounding this tragic event.
In the past, there have been a few documented cases where individuals have filmed or recorded the moments of a plane crash, and some have survived the incident.
One of the most notable instances involves the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which is the subject of the well-known book and movie Alive. However, the crash itself was not filmed by survivors, some of the passengers had access to cameras, and images and video were taken during their struggle for survival.
Another case involved JetBlue Flight 292 in 2005, where a passenger on the flight recorded some moments of the dramatic emergency landing after a malfunction with the plane’s landing gear. The plane successfully landed, and all passengers survived.
A lot of emergency landings or near-crash situations have been filmed, inside and from outside of the planes, but most of the planes did not crash.
In terms of actual footage captured by passengers during the crash itself from inside the plane, is extremely rare.
Most plane crashes happen too suddenly for passengers to start filming before impact.
One example of this, is the viral video taken from the inside of ATR 72's Yeti Airlines Flight 691. The video by Sonu Jaiswal, a passenger of the ill-fated plane, was live streamed on Facebook, and he didn't survive the crash.
This is why the video from the survivor of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 can be considered a one-of-a-kind.
Of the 67 people on board, 29 survived, and 38 died. Three of the five crew members survived, while both pilots died in the accident.
