Captain Igor Kshnyakin, co-pilot Aleksandr Kalyaninov and purser Hokuma Aliyeva lost their lives in the crash landing, while the other two flight attendants, Zulfugar Asadov and Aidan Rahimli, survived and were being treated in hospital. As harrowing details emerge of the last moments of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432, which crashed on Wednesday in Aktau, the flight crew who did their best to save the passengers until the last moment are being hailed as heroes.

Axar.az reports that this was stated in a Euronews article.

According to experts, the pilots and flight attendants played a crucial role, doing everything possible to save passengers until the very last moment.

Azerbaijani government sources have exclusively confirmed on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the crash.

Reuters later clarified that the plane was struck by a Russian "Pantsir-S" air defense missile system and that its communications were paralyzed by electronic warfare systems as it neared Grozny.

Government sources have told that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.

According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.

The surviving crew member, 25-year-old Aydan Rahimli, is in Mangistau Regional Hospital, in a state of shock and under the care of psychologists. Her colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, sustained injuries to his head, back, legs, and arms and is under medical supervision.

Aliyeva’s voice can be heard in a chilling video filmed by a passenger mid-flight in which she is heard trying to comfort the cabin.

Captain Kshnyakin had a flight experience of over 15,000 hours of which 11,200 hours as captain.

Experts believe that, alongside First Officer Kalyaninov, he demonstrated extraordinary piloting skills, managing to guide the damaged aircraft across the Caspian Sea and attempt an emergency landing just 3 kilometers from Aktau Airport's runway.

Based on the footage of the crash site and the airplane wreckage, aviation experts concluded that the Embraer 190’s left horizontal stabiliser appears to be punctured by shrapnel and that the aircraft lost most of its hydraulic systems, likely including rudder control.

The videos analysed by experts show the pilots were forced to vary the aircraft speed, pitching down to gain speed and climbing to slow down to be able to steer the plane, resulting in what is known as phugoid motion or an oscillation.