MiG-29 crash in the Caspian Sea (2019)

The MiG-29 crash in the Caspian Sea was an aviation accident that occurred on 24 July 2019. A MiG-29 aircraft of the Azerbaijani Air Force crashed in the Caspian Sea during a night-time training flight, in the area of the settlement of Zarat (65 km north of Baku), 9 km from the shore. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Rashad Atakishiyev, was killed. All the wreckage of the aircraft together with the pilot's remains was found 27 days later at a depth of 27 metres. According to the findings of the investigation by a commission set up on the orders of the Minister of Defence of Azerbaijan, before the crash the aircraft collided in the air with a foreign object (a bird or a flock of birds), by which the pilot was injured. According to data retrieved from the flight recorder, the pilot tried to regain control of the aircraft, but the severe bodily injury he had received prevented this and ultimately led to the crash of the aircraft. The official version of the causes of the crash is, however, disputed by a number of experts.

Accident

Rashad Atakishiyev was due to leave on a business trip on 29 July and said at home that he “really wanted to fly before the trip”. The pilot's father-in-law, former State Adviser of the Republic of Azerbaijan Professor Gabil Huseynli, told the BBC Azerbaijani Service that on 24 July Atakishiyev had four training flights: daytime flights and the last one, a secret training flight that took place at about 22:00.

Shortly before the end of the exercise, in which three aircraft took part, Rashad Atakishiyev's comrades, having received no response from him, reported this to headquarters. However, because of a shortage of fuel they were unable to search for Atakishiyev's aircraft at that very moment.

Although the area was examined after an emergency was declared, no one reported that day having seen the aircraft or the pilot.

The next morning the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan reported that during a scheduled night-time training flight, communication with a MiG-29 fighter of the Azerbaijani Air Force was suddenly lost, after which the aircraft disappeared from radar screens. According to preliminary assumptions, as a result of the air crash the aircraft fell into the Caspian Sea. It was also reported that search and rescue operations for the pilot were under way.

As it later turned out, the aircraft fell in the area of the settlement of Zarat, Siazan District (65 km north of Baku), 9 km from the shore.