OREANDA-NEWS During the flight of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane, which crashed on the territory of Kazakhstan at the end of 2024, a "sonic boom" was recorded on the cabin, according to a preliminary report on the investigation of the airliner crash.

"At 05:13:31, according to the recordings received from the CVR (on-board voice recorder), a sound shock is recorded - the audible alarm for turning off the autopilot and automatic traction control went off. (...) At 05:13:56, according to the recordings received from the CVR, a repeated sonic boom is recorded," says the report published on the website of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan.

At 5:15 a.m., the crew reported to the dispatcher about a bird strike in the cockpit. "Grozny, control has failed, birds are hitting the cockpit. A bird strike and 2 seats in the cabin exploded, there was a strong impact, the rear seats there, he says, exploded, the flight attendant reported. We are heading to the Mine Waters, please give us the weather of the Mine waters," the transcript provided in the report says.

The document consists of 53 pages and contains information about the flight history, damage to the aircraft, meteorological information, information about debris, and more.

It notes that in accordance with the standards and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, "this report was issued for the sole purpose of preventing accidents and incidents in the future." "The investigation conducted within the framework of this report does not involve establishing anyone's share of blame or responsibility. The criminal aspects of this event are described in a separate criminal case," the article says.

The report also says that the investigation of the crashed aircraft showed the presence of extraneous "external objects" made of metal.

"An initial inspection of the preserved fragments revealed many through and through damage of various sizes and shapes in the tail section of the fuselage, keel and stabilizer, elevators and rudders. Similar damage was found on the aircraft's left engine and left wing, as well as on the aircraft's assemblies and components. In some places, the damage has a regular rectangular shape," the document says.

It contains photographs containing evidence of damage to hydraulic systems "before the collision with the earth's surface, probably caused by external objects that penetrated the components of the aircraft."

In addition, photographs are presented containing evidence of damage to the electrical wiring of the stabilizer drive control "before the collision with the Earth's surface, probably caused by external objects."

"End-to-end damage to the aircraft indicates the penetration of external objects into the structure of the vessel; most of the end-to-end damage is in the keel and stabilizer," the document says.

Visual inspection of the through-holes shows that some of them are through-holes, while others are blind/through-holes. "The investigation Commission carried out actions to remove foreign objects that could have been preserved in the deaf damage in order to send them for additional forensic examination. As a result, a large number of foreign objects were removed from the deaf damage," the report says.

In the description of the photo of these objects, it is noted that they are "metallic".

"To determine the nature and origin of the through-hole damage caused by foreign objects, appropriate studies and examinations will be conducted," the document says.

On December 25, 2024, a passenger Embraer 190 AZAL crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau. There were 67 people on board the plane, which was en route from Baku to Grozny, 38 of them died. The plane headed for Aktau after several attempts to land in Grozny. Before reaching the Kazakh airport about 3 km away, he crashed.