THIS is the horrific moment a passenger plane hit the ground in a fireball in a Christmas Day crash landing.
There were 105 passengers and five crew members on board the fight from Azerbaijan capital Baku to Russian city Grozny.
The plane can be seen nosediving before the crash[/caption]
The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer E190AR crashes during an emergency landing in Aktau, Kazakhstan[/caption]
Earlier reports had suggested 67 on board.
The plane was in flames and broke into several parts on landing in Aktau in western Kazakhstan.
At least six people survived the crash but were in a critical condition, said Kazakhstan Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova.
The Embraer E190AR with registration number 4K-AZ65 sent out a distress signal at an altitude of 2,125 feet over the Caspian Sea.
Reports said the plane collided with a bird and suffered a steering failure.
It is seen coming in steeply, descending with its nose pointing down too steeply.
It attempted to land at Aktau in western Kazakhstan after being rerouted from Grozny and another Russian city Makhachkala due to bad weather.
Kazaeronavigatsiya – the Kazakhstan air navigation service – said: “An Embraer 190 AHY8243 aircraft travelling on the Baku-Grozny route declared an emergency situation due to collision with a bird and violation of steering control….
“The aircraft was carrying 105 passengers and five crew members.”
Another report said it hit a flock of birds.
At least 60 Russians were reported to be on board.
Grozny – the destination – is the capital of the Chechnya republic, a Russian region controlled by Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov which regularly sends troops to fight in the war against Ukraine.
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