SURVIVORS of the Christmas Day plane crash have revealed from their hospital beds the final moments before the jet was reportedly shot down by Russia. Passengers on Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 said they heard loud bangs as the plane came in to land in Chechnya.
![[The Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan killing 38]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/azerbaijan-airlines-embraer-e190ar-crashes-959918668_b74d34.jpg?strip=all&w=752)
The nightmare journey killed 38 on board - but only after the noises left travellers fearing the plane might "fall apart" mid-air and the plane fled Russia. Survivor Vafa Shabanova said: "About 20 or 30 minutes after takeoff, we felt two explosions. "The plane was supposed to land, but it didn’t. Something exploded inside twice.".
![[Crash survivor Vafa Shabanova said two explosions were felt]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/vafa-shabanova-passenger-azerbaijan-airlines-960095211.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Speaking from her hospital bed, passenger Subhonkul Rakhimov said: "When the first bang happened, I looked (around), quickly assessed the situation, and I thought that the plane was going to fall apart. "A couple more seconds passed, but it didn't fall apart.".
Rakhimov said she began to pray after the bangs believing that they could be her final words. She said: "After the bang, people started getting up from their seats. "Not everyone, of course, but those who were emotional, they all stood up. "The flight attendants immediately entered the cabin (and started telling the passengers): 'What are you doing, don't get up under any circumstances, everyone quickly get back to your seats, everyone sit down, everyone calm down, everything is fine, everything will stabilize'.".
![[Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli survived the crash]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/flight-attendant-aydan-r-himli-959918571.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
