Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Azerbaijani ambassador discuss investigation into Aktau plane crash

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin and Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayeva discussed the progress of the investigation into the plane crash in Kazakhstan's Aktau, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on January 27.

Galuzin invited the ambassador to the Russian Foreign Ministry's Smolenskaya Square for the meeting. The parties emphasized the need to complete the investigation into the causes of the tragedy.

"When discussing the topic of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash on December 25, 2024 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, the need to complete the official investigation and make public its results to clarify all the circumstances of the tragedy occurred was emphasized," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website.

The pressure of altitude: what led to the crash of a passenger plane in Kazakhstan

At least 32 people survived the crash, all of whom were in the tail section of the

Before that, January 24, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said that the preliminary results of the investigation into the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) may be made public next week. He recalled that the black boxes of the flight were fully decrypted by an international team of experts in Brazil and returned to Kazakhstan. According to him, Russia and Azerbaijan have copies of the decryption.

The passenger plane of AZAL Airlines, heading from Baku to Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25 last year. A criminal case was opened after the incident. There were 62 passengers and five crew members on board. Thirty-eight people died, among them were seven Russians.

The black boxes were decoded in Brazil by employees of the Brazilian Center for Investigation and Prevention of Air Accidents (CENIPA) and nine technicians from Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on January 14, 2025, that the decoding of the black boxes does not confirm some preliminary conclusions voiced in the media.