A passenger aboard the Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters there was at least one loud bang as the plane neared its original destination, Grozny in southern Russia.
Flight J2-8243 crashed Wednesday in a fiery explosion near Aktau, Kazakhstan, after diverting from an area of southern Russia, where Moscow has repeatedly deployed air defense systems against Ukrainian drones.
"I thought the plane was going to fall apart," said Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the survivors, speaking from a hospital. He added that he began reciting prayers and preparing for the worst after hearing the bang.
At least 38 people were killed, and 29 survived.
Russia has said it is important to wait for the official investigation to conclude before determining what happened.
Four sources familiar with the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defenses had mistakenly shot the plane down.
Azerbaijan Airlines suspended a number of flights to Russian cities on Friday and said it considered the crash to be caused by what it termed "physical and technical external interference."
After the loud bang, the plane acted strangely, as if it was "drunk," Rakhimov said.
"It was as if it was drunk – not the same plane anymore," he said.
The Embraer passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia's southern Chechnya region before veering hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.
It crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
After the turmoil of the crash landing, there was silence before the moaning of the injured began, Rakhimov said.
Asked about reports that Russian air defenses had mistakenly shot down the aircraft, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday he had nothing to add and did not want to offer any assessments until the official investigation reached its conclusions.
Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation watchdog, said the captain of the plane had been offered alternative airports to land at but had chosen Kazakhstan's Aktau. It said it would provide comprehensive support to Kazakh and Azerbaijani investigations into the crash.
