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Azerbaijan Airlines crash sparks speculation plane ‘accidentally shot down by Russia’
(www.yahoo.com)
Russian missile shot down Azerbaijani passenger plane, preliminary findings suggest
A Russian surface-to-air missile was responsible for the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, which killed 38 passengers, Azerbaijani media reported Thursday.
Unnamed Azerbaijani officials cited by the Baku-based news agency AnewZ said preliminary findings suggest the missile was fired from a Russian Pantsir-S air defense system as the plane approached Grozny in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on Wednesday morning.
GPS jamming, previously reported by Flight Radar 24, caused the aircraft to lose communication with air traffic control while flying over Russian territory, the officials added.
Chechnya and surrounding North Caucasus regions were targeted by drone strikes early Wednesday. AnewZ said that, under such conditions, Russian authorities were required to close airspace to civilian aircraft, but for unknown reasons, this was not done.
Addition: NATO calls for full investigation of Azerbaijan Airlines crash