"The suggestion that a balloon exploded in the cabin of the Azerbaijani Airlines plane on the Baku-Grozny route, causing the crash in Aktau, is absurd," Azerbaijan's Honored Pilot Tahir Aghaguliyev told APA.
Aghaguliyev explained that there are no balloons on board the aircraft, only oxygen cylinders.
"If any issue arises, the oxygen cylinder is used to ensure passengers can breathe comfortably. They falsely claim that a balloon exploded. Such a thing cannot happen," Aghaguliyev noted.
He further explained that the damage to the aircraft was caused by the spread of shrapnel from a missile explosion. "These are parts of the missile that damaged the hydraulic system, the hydraulics. The aircraft's control system operates based on hydraulics."
Ağaquliyev also emphasized that oxygen masks on the aircraft are deployed only when the cabin pressure is compromised.
"The missile did not directly hit the plane, but the plane was struck by shrapnel. The missile exploded about 10 meters away from the aircraft. The gas cylinder claim is nonsense, absurd. They simply have no other explanation and don't know how to cover up their mess," Ağaquliyev added.
Note that Russian and other foreign information resources have circulated the theory that the explosion of a balloon in the cabin caused the crash of the AZAL plane.
On December 25, an Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, flight J2-8243 on the Baku-Grozny route, diverted towards the city of Aktau due to the necessity of an emergency landing and crashed near Aktau. The plane carried 67 people, including 5 crew members and 62 passengers.
As a result of the crash, 38 people lost their lives, while 29 survived.
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