An Azerbaijani missile damaged an Aerflot passenger jet flying from the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh to the Armenian capital of Yerevan Friday, but the plane landed safely, Armenian officials said.
The Yak-40 jet with 30 passengers and four crew members aboard was hit by a heat-seeking missile over the Kelbadzhar district of Azerbaijan shortly after takeoff from Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, said Mikit Kazaryan, a spokesman for the Armenian Mission in Moscow.Kazaryan and the Armenpress news agency reported that the missile did not explode, but damaged an engine on the plane's tail. The pilot was able to shut the engine down and land safely in Yerevan on two engines, they said.
Some passengers suffered minor injuries, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. Quoting the Nagorno-Karabakh government press center, it hailed the pilot's "extraordinary skills" in landing the aircraft safely.
ITAR-Tass described the weapon as a surface-to-air missile. It said the aircraft caught fire, but that firefighters at Yerevan's airport put out the blaze.
The attack came as the two former Soviet republics agreed to extend a cease-fire in the disputed territory until peace talks can start.