Russian air defences may have shot down passenger jet after misidentifying it, US intelligence suggests
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Russian air defences may have shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines flight after misidentifying it, according to US military sources. Two unnamed officials who spoke to Sky News' US partner NBC News said America had intelligence indicating Russia may have believed the flight was a drone and engaged its air defences.
It added that this was down, in part, due to the plane's irregular flight pattern and altitude. The report comes after US national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that Washington had "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defence systems".
He refused to elaborate, citing an ongoing investigation. The plane had been flying from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, on Christmas Day. During its flight, it turned toward Kazakhstan and later crashed around two miles from Aktau while making an attempt to land after flying east across the Caspian Sea.
'Russian air defence system' downed Azerbaijan Airlines plane in deadly crash - Reuters. Passengers seen praying in Azerbaijan Airlines cabin footage moments before deadly plane crash. COP29 delegates leave summit with a bad aftertaste. The crash killed 38 people and left all of the 29 survivors injured.
Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning after the incident - as footage from inside the aircraft emerged. Azerbaijan's transport minister Rashad Nabiyev told the country's media that "preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact" and witness testimony did as well.