Kazakhstan to establish aircraft accident investigation center
Kazakhstani Deputy Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev announced the establishment of an aircraft accident investigation center in Kazakhstan by the end of 2025, underlining its importance in assessing flight safety in the country.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, Lastayev reported on the inspection of Kazakhstan’s major airlines following the Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft accident near Aktau.
«Following your instructions previously given at the special briefing after the crash near Aktau, the Aviation Administration has inspected all major airlines. As for the aircraft accident investigation, this is one of the ICAO’s [International Civil Aviation Organization] eight critical elements for assessing flight safety. In Kazakhstan, the rate stands at 51%,» he stated.
According to Lastayev, Kazakhstan’s aircraft accident investigation efficiency rate remains among the lowest.
«To improve the situation by the end of 2025, we plan to establish a specialized aircraft accident investigation center. It will be properly staffed and equipped,» Lastayev added.
Last December, an aircraft traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, carrying 62 passengers and five crew members, crashed near Aktau, killing 38 people.
In early February, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport published a preliminary report on this accident investigation that reported numerous punctures and partial-through damages of different shapes and sizes were found in the rear fuselage, empennage, rudder and elevators.
Reuters, citing an Azerbaijani government source, stated that the aircraft was shot down by the Russian Pantsir-S missile system. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Transport stated that the plane was fully airworthy before its last flight. It lost access to GPS while flying over Grozny and was hit after an airspace shutdown was implemented over the area.
