Month: December 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized on December 28 to Azerbaijan’s leaders for what he referred to as a “tragic incident,” which was the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan. Thirty-eight people were killed. Putin stopped short of admitting that Russia was responsible.

The apology came as allegations grew that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not specifically say one of these hit the plane. In the statement, Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.”

In the statement Russia says it has launched a criminal probe into the incident. Azerbaijani state prosecutors have gone to Grozny to participate in the investigation. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Aliyev stated that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries “due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.” He went on to say a team of international experts had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan’s initiative. The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s office had confirmed earlier that investigators from Azerbaijan were working in Grozny.

On Friday, December 27, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 crashed en route from Baku, Azerbaijan to the Russian city of Grozny on Wednesday, December 25. It had diverted, possibly due to weather, and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying across the Caspian Sea. Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board the plane were killed in the crash, according to Kazakh authorities, including the two pilots and one flight attendant.

The plane went down about three kilometers (approx. two miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage captured by onlookers and circulated online show the aircraft making a steep descent before it crashed into the ground and exploded.

Rasim Musabekov, an Azerbaijani lawmaker, told local news agency Turan that the plane was fired on while in the skies over Grozny and urged Russia to offer an official apology. “Those who did this must face criminal charges,” Musabekov as quoted by Turan, said and added that compensation to the victims should also be paid. “If it doesn’t happen, relations will be affected.”

Experts pointed out that the holes seen in the plane’s tail section might indicate that it sustained damage from Russian air defense. A Chechen official said a regional drone attack occurred on Wednesday, however federal authorities didn’t report it.

Mark Zee of OPSGroup said the images of fragments of the crashed plane indicate that it was likely hit by a surface-to-air missile. “Much more to investigate, but at high level we’d put the probability of it being a SAM attack on the aircraft at being well into the 90-99% bracket,” he said.

The tail shows damage similar to shrapnel damage from a small surface-to-air missiles.

Aboard the plane were 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry on Thursday flew nine Russian survivors to Moscow for treatment.

IDEMIA Public Security announced a 10-year extension of its agreement with the Australian Department of Home Affairs to continue to support the upgraded arrival systems at 8 of Australia’s international airports in order to provide a seamless travel experience for travelers. This extension comes after IDEMIA’s successful delivery of its biometric border control solution, Gen3 kiosk, at Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Coolangatta, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney airport.

The new 10-year agreement enables IDEMIA to continue upgrading Australia’s environment with the latest technology and serves as an extension of its support and maintenance services for the Australian Department of Home Affairs. It is also designed to continue to promote innovation to improve and secure the travel experience at airports.

IDEMIA’s end-to-end border control solution comprising of kiosks and Smart Gates to Australia’s international airports incorporates biometric functionality and capability for travelers. Offering a convenient self-service authentication, travelers complete an initial 1:1 verification against their passport at the Gen3 Kiosk, which enables a match when they present themselves at the SmartGate. The traveler’s face is used as proof of their identity ensuring a smooth experience and shorter wait times at airports.

“I’m thrilled to continue our long-standing 18-year partnership with the Australian Department of Home Affairs and give travelers a secure and convenient airport experience,” said Tim Ferris, senior vice President, travel & transport, IDEMIA Public Security. “With this expansion of our partnership, IDEMIA has the opportunity to facilitate easy technology refreshes for Australia and ensure it has our most up-to-date border control technologies to best serve their residents, as well as travelers across the globe.”

American Airlines released a statement that it had settled a lawsuit claiming it had discriminated against three black men who removed from a flight earlier this year. The three men did not know one another and were not seated together. They were all removed from their plane after a white flight attendant complained about body odor onboard the aircraft. They said they were allowed back on the plane after waiting an hour at an airport gate in Phoenix, before departing for New York.

American and the group that brought the lawsuit did not disclose the amount of the settlement. “We are very pleased that American Airlines took our complaint seriously, and we hope that this never happens to Black passengers or any other people of color again,” the plaintiffs, Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph and Xavier Veal, said in a statement provided by the Public Citizen Litigation Group, a nonprofit consumer organization that represented them with the law firm Outten & Golden. “Our goal in speaking out has always been to create change,” the men’s statement said. “We are proud that we used our voices to make a difference in the lives of Black Americans.”

The airlines said it strives to have a “welcoming and inclusive environment” for customers. “The agreement allows all parties to move forward and focus on what matters most — ensuring a safe and inclusive travel experience for every customer,” the airline said in a statement.