Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 of its occupants.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, to Kadyrov Grozny International Airport in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. On 25 December 2024, the Embraer 190 operating the flight was severely damaged by "foreign metal objects" while on approach to Grozny, damage later determined to be consistent with the impact of a Russian Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile. The crew attempted to divert over the Caspian Sea, but the aircraft's hydraulic systems failed, leading to a loss of control and a crash near Aktau International Airport in Kazakhstan. Of the 67 people on board, 38 were killed, including both pilots and a flight attendant, and 29 survived with injuries.

Aktau is a city in south-west Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Aktau is on the Mangyshlak Peninsula in the Mangystau Region.

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. Its capital is Astana, while the largest city and leading cultural and commercial hub is Almaty.