Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the Azerbaijani Airlines plane making a steep descent before slamming into the ground in a fireball in western Kazakhstan.

Speculations with unconfirmed reports said that Russian air defense system probably mistook the plane for an Ukrainian drone.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a news conference that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, pointing to bad weather as the reason the plane diverted from its original course. "This is a great tragedy that has become a tremendous sorrow for the Azerbaijani people," he said.

Russia’s state aviation authority said the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had been trying to make an emergency landing. The Kazakh authorities said that at least 29 people survived.

Flight was operating in an area where Moscow’s air defenses have battled Ukrainian drones in recent weeks.

According to Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry, the plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines had 37 Azerbaijani passengers, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three Kyrgyz, along with five crew members on board.

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after travelling far off course, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, officials said.Azerbaijan Airlines reported that 67 people were on board -- 62 passengers and five crew members.

An Embraer passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people, after diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks.

Speculation has emerged that Russian air defenses may have played a role, with some questioning, "This doesn't seem like birds."

A passenger captured footage inside an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet moments before and after it crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan. The plane, en route from Baku to Grozny, was diverted due to fog and an emergency incident,

Experts believe the flight crew of an Azerbaijan Airlines jet that crashed on December 25 was struggling to control the plane in its last moments, they say. No official cause has been given yet for the crash,