Azerbaijan Airlines crash: was this another military shoot-down of a civil aircraft? - Key questions and answers about the first fatal crash anywhere in the world involving a passenger jet in 2024

The statement is the closest officials have come to confirming mounting suspicions that the plane was downed by a Russian air-defense system.

Multiple shrapnel holes in the plane’s fuselage and its altitude at the time of incident contradict the bird theory. Azerbaijan accused Russia of hitting the passenger jet with a missile. The pilot did not decide to fly to Aktau;