Crew member of crashed AZAL plane recounts harrowing details of flight's final moments

Zulfugar Asadov, a crew member of the crashed AZAL passenger plane, shared his experience of the tragic incident, Azernews reports, citing local TV, APA.

"The pilot saw that there was no place to land. That's why he took off again. After circling in the air, he tried to land again, but it didn't work. After that, he was forced to take off and headed in another direction. When we were returning, a strange, impact-like sound came from the outside. Mrs. Aydan and I quickly went into the cabin, trying to calm people down. When I wanted to go forward, I was hit in the arm. It was as if someone had hit me in the arm with an axe. There was a deep cut on my arm. Then a third impact was heard. We instructed people that we were going to land in the water and to get ready and put on their life jackets. Later, the pilot changed his mind.

In my opinion, if we had landed in the water, there would have been no survivors. Because our plane's engine had been affected, and if it had landed hard on the water, it would have been stronger than hitting a rock. As a result, the plane would have been torn to pieces. We listened to the information and instructed the passengers. All the passengers acted according to the instructions.

The pilots worked hard to keep the plane in the air and land at the destination. They tried very hard to do this. First, they hit the front wheels. Because if it had hit the ground as a whole, no one would have survived. They had to choose either the front wheel or the rear."