Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), the operator of the plane that crashed near Aktau earlier this week, stated that ‘mechanical and technical external damage’ was responsible for the aircraft’s crash.
"A decision [to suspend flights to a number of Russian cities from Baku], made in coordination with the State Civil Aviation Agency of Azerbaijan, is based on the preliminary findings of the investigation into the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft operating flight J2-8243 Baku - Grozny due to physical and mechanical external impacts and takes into account potential flight security risks," the statement reads.
The AZAL flight en route from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau on December 25. The plane was carrying 67 people, only 28 people survived.