The Brazilian Air Force has extracted data from two black box recorders belonging to a crashed Azerbaijan Airlines plane that Baku says was shot down by Russia on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board .
The Brazilian-made Embraer 190 crashed in Kazakhstan after being diverted from a planned landing in the Chechen capital Grozny in southern Russia. Azerbaijan believes the plane was shot down by Russian air defenses, which Moscow said were operational in the region at the time.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, apologized that the “incident” occurred in his country’s airspace, but did not respond to claims that the plane was hit by Russian weapons.
The flight recorders, which capture cockpit dialogue and flight data from the plane, were analyzed in Brasilia, but Kazakhstan is responsible for publishing the results.
“All data was transmitted to the investigative authorities of Kazakhstan… in accordance with international protocols for investigating aircraft accidents,” the Brazilian Air Force said in a statement.
Russia said Grozny was under attack by Ukrainian drones when the airliner approached to land in heavy fog.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a close ally of Moscow, demanded an apology, admission of guilt and punishment of those responsible for the “criminal” plane shooting.
In a rare rebuke on Monday, Aliyev said Russia’s “cover-up” of the causes and the “delusional versions” put forward “cause us legitimate anger.”
Investigators from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia traveled to Brazil, officials said. The black box data was examined by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center, a unit of the Brazilian Air Force.
theguardian