Thirty-eight of 67 onboard flight from Baku to the Chechen city Grozny believed to have been killed. Russian authorities cite bird strike.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny that crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system. Source: Reuters, citing its sources Quote: "One of the Azerbaijani sources familiar with Azerbaijan's investigation into the crash told Reuters that preliminary results showed the plane was struck by a Russian Pantsir-S air defence system.

After an Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed in Kazakhstan, speculation mounted about why the plane went down and whether possible Russian air defense action may have played a role.