On the fateful day of Christmas 2024, the Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, carrying 62 passengers, was diverted from its intended destination — Grozny in Russia, to Aktau in Kazakhstan — due to the foggy conditions at the Grozny airport. However, the aircraft crashed just 3 kilometers short of Aktau, killing about 38 people on board. Disturbing footage published online shows the aircraft going down in a steep descent at high speed.

The absence of specific information about the crash has given rise to a spate of speculations and claims, with several people and military bloggers suspecting an erroneous Russian strike on the aircraft.

These claims are based on footage showing holes in the damaged fuselage attributed to bullets or shrapnel. In fact, there is widespread suspicion that the aircraft was engaged by Russian air defense units when it approached Grozny.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said in a statement: “This morning, the Embraer 190 aircraft of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, was shot down by a Russian air defense system.”

He added the aircraft was likely shot down as it entered Russian airspace when the country was preparing to combat a suspected drone strike.

This incident has revived the memories of a somewhat similar incident two decades ago when a plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile, but it managed to land safely.

This story is about an Airbus A300B2-200F cargo aircraft that was owned by the Belgian division of European Air Transport at the time and operated as DHL Express, a logistics company that conducts offshore deliveries.

On November 22, 2003, the aircraft took off from Baghdad International Airport (BGW). Previously known as the Saddam International Airport (SDA), it was renamed in April 2003 after the US invasion of Iraq. The aircraft was bound for Bahrain International Airport (BAH), which was a hub for DHL International Aviation Middle East at the time.

The plane had a crew of three people on that fateful day: two Belgian pilots and a Scottish flight engineer. The captain of this flight had 3,300 flying hours, more than half of which were in the A300.

The first officer in the crew had 1,275 flying hours, and the flight engineer had an impressive experience of 13,400 flying hours. As they embarked on the plane, little did they know that the most difficult day of their lives awaited them.