President of Azerbaijan: We demand punishment of the guilty for the plane crash

This is what Ilham Aliyev said at a meeting with family members of the crew killed in the plane crash and surviving flight attendants, Kazinform News Agency learned from AzerTAC.

“I can say with full certainty that the blame for the fact that Azerbaijani citizens died in this disaster lies with representatives of the Russian Federation. And we demand justice, we demand punishment of the guilty, we demand full transparency and human behavior,” President Aliyev said.

Ilham Aliyev reminded that the black boxes are being decoded now.

“I am sure that we will find out preliminary results in the near future and everything will fall into place. The whole picture of the tragedy will be clear. And this, of course, will be an important part of the full investigation of this tragedy and the punishment of those responsible for it,” added he.

Earlier, Kazinform reported that the specialists from the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa) of the Brazilian Air Force began analyzing data from the black boxes of Azerbaijan Airlines’s Embraer 190 plane.

On December 30, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for a thorough, impartial and transparent investigation into the tragic crash of Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8243 on 25 December 2024.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane which was flying from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau, Mangistau region, on December 25. The plane was carrying 67 people including 5 crew members. 38 people died and 29 survived as a result of the tragedy. Among the victims are six nationals of Kazakhstan.