On January 16th, Russian online media Baza released the complete call records between the pilot and air traffic controller of the crashed Azerbaijan Airlines plane. According to records, all decisions regarding not landing in Grozny, not flying to Mahachikala, and ultimately flying to Aktau were independently made by the crew of Azerbaijan Airlines. The call records show that the air traffic controller had suggested the crew to land in Grozny first, and then suggested landing in Mahachkala, and provided the crew with data from other Russian airports, but the crew decided not to fly to these locations for landing. In addition, it can be clearly heard from the call records that the claims of collision with birds and explosion of gas cylinders in the cabin were inferred by the crew during the call. The records also show that the plane was indeed affected by external factors, but the pilot did not announce to the passengers in the cabin that the plane had encountered an emergency situation.
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