AZAL crash anniversary marked with cemetery visit in Baku
Senior Azerbaijani officials on Thursday visited the graves of the crew members who lost their lives in the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) aircraft in Kazakhstan, marking the first anniversary of the tragedy.
The commemoration took place at the Second Alley of Honour, where National Heroes Hokuma Aliyeva, Igor Kshnyakin, and Aleksandr Kalyaninov are buried. Among those paying tribute were Azerbaijan’s Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev, AZAL President Samir Rzayev, airline employees, and family members of the victims, News.Az reports, citing AZERTAC.
The visit marked one year since the crash of AZAL Flight J2-8243, an Embraer 190 operating the Baku–Grozny route, which went down near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on 25 December 2024. Preliminary investigation findings indicate that the aircraft came under attack from Russia’s Pantsir-S air defence system while approaching Grozny.
There were 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and five crew members: 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan. The crash claimed 38 lives and left 29 others injured. Captain Igor Kshnyakin, First Officer Aleksandr Kalyaninov, and flight attendant Hokuma Aliyeva were among those killed, while two flight attendants, Zulfugar Asadov and Aydan Rahimli, survived.
The anniversary ceremony served as a moment of remembrance for the victims and renewed calls for accountability following one of the deadliest aviation tragedies in Azerbaijan’s recent history.
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