Investigators meet in Brazil to retrieve data from black box

Rio de Janeiro: Several of Brazilian air force investigators are working with colleagues from three other nations to analyse data from the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 people. Azerbaijan claims the jet was unintentionally shot down by Russia.

The Embraer 190 aircraft, made in Brazil, was en route from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted. It crashed while trying to land near the city of Aktau after flying hundreds of kilometers (miles) east across the Caspian Sea. Brazil’s air force said in a statement late Thursday that nine foreign investigators have gathered with its own experts at its centre for investigation and prevention of air accidents in capital Brasilia to work on data extracted from the airplane’s black box and other tools.

Kazakhstan has three investigators in that group, while six others come from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Investigators in Brasilia are working on recordings, cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the aircraft, the Brazilian air force added. There’s no deadline for investigators to publicise their conclusions, which will ultimately come from Kazakh authorities.

Brazil’s air force said the flight recorders’ data will be extracted and validated as quickly as possible. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed the aircraft was hit by ground fire over Russia and made uncontrollable by electronic warfare, accusing Russia of trying to conceal the issue. Russian President Putin apologized to Aliyev for the “tragic incident” but did not accept responsibility.