After preliminary investigations into the Azerbaijan plane crash, Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister said in a media briefing in Aktaw that “the plane had lost control when it entered Kazakhstan’s airspace.”

He explained in the detailed briefing that “the accident involved an Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, which was flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.”

He added, “At 10:43 local time, we received the first signal from the Russian air traffic control center.”

According to the signal, the crew decided to change course to Aktaw due to bad weather in Baku and Makhachkala, a city in Russia’s Dagestan region.

The Transport Minister further stated that “at 10:53, the flight director of Rostov informed the flight manager of Aktaw that an oxygen tank had exploded in the passenger cabin, passengers were unconscious, and emergency medical assistance was requested after landing.”

He said emergency teams were immediately activated at Aktaw Airport, and “at 11:02, the pilots contacted Aktaw Airport’s air traffic control.”

According to the Transport Minister, the air traffic controller took all necessary measures to land the plane on the runway. However, at 11:28, contact with the plane was lost, and it crashed into the ground.