Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on 25 December while attempting an emergency landing. ADS-B data and video of crash indicate possible control issues with the aircraft. Local officials report 62 passengers and five crew onboard.
Flight J28243 was scheduled to operate from Baku to Grozny. The aircraft departed Baku at 03:55 UTC. Valid ADS-B position data was received from the aircraft until 04:25 UTC when the flight encountered significant GPS interference. The aircraft stopped sending positional data altogether for the period between 04:25 and 04:37. Between 04:37 and 04:40 the aircraft sent likely erroneous position data.
Flightradar24 receivers did not receive data from the aircraft between 04:40 and 05:03 and a second gap from 05:04 to 05:13 . From 05:13 until 06:07 all data received from the aircraft lacked positional information. From 06:07 UTC through the end of the flight at 06:28 position data was received from the aircraft.
It has not yet been confirmed why the aircraft had diverted to near Aktau. Weather reports for Grozny at the time indicated visibility at the airfield was 3600 meters with low overcast clouds, but it is not yet known if this was a factor.
URMG 250600Z 18001MPS 2900 BR OVC004 03/02 Q1025 R26/290250 NOSIG RMK MT OBSC OBST OBSC QFE754/1006
URMG 250530Z 16001MPS 3500 BR OVC012 03/02 Q1025 R26/290250 NOSIG RMK OBST OBSC QFE754/1005
URMG 250430Z 26001MPS 3600 BR OVC007 03/02 Q1025 R26/290250 NOSIG RMK MT OBSC OBST OBSC QFE754/1005
URMG 250400Z 25002MPS 3600 BR OVC006 03/02 Q1025 R26/290250 NOSIG RMK MT OBSC OBST OBSC QFE753/1005
Variable altitude, speed, and vertical rate
While data was not received for the entire flight, the ADS-B data available from 05:13 UTC demonstrates variable altitude (feet AMSL) reports of ±8,000 feet dozens of times and oscillating ground speed (Knots) and vertical rate (feet per minute) values. The aircraft was unable to maintain consistent altitude and speed for at least 75 minutes. Photos and video from the crash scene indicate puncture damage to at least the left side of the vertical stabilizer.
Correcting for local pressure
Altitude data contained in ADS-B messages is transmitted at Standard pressure (1013.25 hPa). When aircraft fly at lower altitudes, pilots enter the QNH or local pressure into their flight computers, which computes a corrected altitude. To better visualize the flight data from J28243, we have corrected the ADS-B altitude data for the flight with QNH reported by Aktau Airport (SCO | UATE) at the time to 1025 hPa.
UATE 250600Z 03005MPS 9999 BKN036 04/M01 Q1025 NOSIG RMK QFE767/1023
Correcting to local pressure provides a 329 foot increase in the altitude values reported via ADS-B. This is also the reason why there are negative altitude values in the granular data (downloadable below).
Download flight data
ADS-B data is available for download. The granular data file contains the ADS-B data received from the aircraft at a higher rate of reporting than shown on the Flightradar24 site. Additionally, the granular file also contains data for frames that do not contain position updates.
Aircraft information
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 was operated by an Embraer E190-100IGW registered 4K-AZ65. The E190 was powered by two CF-34 engines. Azerbaijan Airlines took delivery of plane in 2013.
