Horror map shows death spiral after missile blasted passenger plane ‘ONE MIN before Russia shut danger zone air space’
Share:
A HORROR map shows the death spiral of the crashed passenger jet after reports say it was blasted by a Russian missile. The Christmas Day disaster killed 38 people after Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 carrying 67 exploded in a fireball near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan.
![[The Azeri Airlines flight crashed after reportedly being hit by a Russian missile]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/6a0fd84d-cfda-4ba2-9e5d-af3d0e77e1c8.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The flight had been travelling from Baku, in Azerbaijan, to Grozny, in Russia's Chechnya. But tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows the final minutes of the plane's journey. The jet undulated across the Caspian Sea as the pilots fought for control of the damaged jet.
![[Some passengers survived after part of the fuselage miraculously stayed together]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/shrapnel-like-holes-report-explosion-959918661.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
After reaching land, they descended towards Aktau Airport but appeared to continue struggling for control of the craft. The flight got near the strip, but without the guidance systems it crash landed in the desert. A Russian military blogger claims the plane was hit by an air defence missile while inside Russia.
Blogger VChK-OGPU said just one minute after the plane was hit, Russian authorities reportedly started a no-fly zone in the area. The post claimed two UAVs were flying over the same part of Chechnya at the time - just after 8am. Anti-air Pantsir missiles, the blogger claimed, had been installed in the area of Grozny airport just a fortnight before.
The pilot was not given any warning about how dangerous the situation he had flown into was or about the impending creation of a no-fly zone. Following the strike, the desperate pilot pleaded to be diverted to nearby airports, he was refused permission and so had to flee across the Caspian to Kazakhstan.
![[The flight undulated as it came into land]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/09324c0d-49fe-429b-8295-f423a432c9ee.jpg?strip=all&w=627)
