The pilots of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane fought until the very end to safely land the aircraft.

Axar.az reports that in an article on France's La Voix du Nord portal. The authors of the article highlight that the Azerbaijani pilots demonstrated exceptional professionalism.

The article states that the flight crew of AZAL flight 8432 performed a real miracle by saving the lives of half the passengers aboard. Despite the failure of the hydraulic and navigation systems, they managed to fly the plane for two hours over the Caspian Sea and reach Aktau. Thanks to the bravery of Captain Igor Kshnyakin, pilot Aleksandr Kalyaninov, and flight attendant Hökümə Əliyeva, the scale of the tragedy was reduced.

It should be noted that on December 25, an AZAL plane flying from Baku to Grozny was struck by Russian air defense systems over Grozny's airspace, suffering serious damage. As it was denied permission to land, the plane headed toward Aktau but crashed near Aktau Airport.

As a result of the crash, 38 out of 67 people onboard lost their lives, while 29 survived.

To date, Russia has not apologized to Azerbaijan nor held accountable those who denied the plane's landing permission.