Birds blamed for military plane crash in Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani MiG-29 military plane crashed several weeks ago after a collision with a bird or flock of birds – investigators came to this conclusion after deciphering the plane’s black box. 

• JAMnews reports on board an American warship

• Hostages – a film about the most famous Georgian hijack attempt

The MiG-29, owned by the Azerbaijani Air Force, crashed into the sea on the night of July 24 during a training flight. 

For almost three weeks all attempts to find the plane and the pilot were unsuccessful. Specialists from Russia and Turkey were called in to help conduct the search.

Finally, on August 16 they found fragments of the plane, on August 19 the black box was found, and on August 20, they found the body of the pilot, still strapped into the seat.

“The pilot attempted to regain control of the aircraft in order to prevent a crash. However, the severe nature of his injuries made this impossible, which led to the plane crash”, reports the Minister of Defense in his statement:

But this does not explain how the accident occurred, how the pilot sustained his injuries, and exactly what those injuries were. Why he did not use his ejection seat and parachute is also unclear.