A man who survived the devastating Christmas Day plane crash in Kazakhstan has spoken out about the terrifying experience, including how he felt upon impact.
Very few people in history have survived a plane crash, but Subhonkul Rakhimov and 28 others defied the odds and now live to tell the tale - although he didn't think he would.
Rakhimov was onboard Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 on Christmas Day (December 25) en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny, capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia.
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But the aircraft, an Embraer 190, ran into trouble near Grozny - where it already attempted to land three times, according to flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov, who spoke with The New York Times.
It eventually crashed on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan, with officials stating that there were 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, 6 Kazakh citizens, 3 Kyrgyz citizens on board. 38 lives were lost in the devastating crash.
A video of Rakhimov recording a heartbreaking 'last message' to his wife as the plane was going down has been posted on social media.
He began filming when he realized the plane was losing altitude. In the video, the oxygen masks are also seen down for some of the passengers, with many others heard panicking and crying.
Rakhimov was also heard praying as he repeatedly flipped the camera on his face and to the chaos on the plane.
Miraculously, he survived the crash and has now spoken about what he felt on impact.
“I thought that was my last prayer,” he told the Reuters via a telephone call from a hospital bed in Baku.
Rakhimov, along with Asadov and fellow passenger Aydan Rahimli, explained to The New York Times and to Azerbaijan TV station, that when they were 'struck in the air', some panicked passengers began to stand up.
Rakhimov told Reuters that he heard a bang from outside the main body of the aircraft and after he saw the damage he believed it was about to collapse.
He explained that upon impact with the floor his body twisted over and over again until all of a sudden it was silent, that's when he began to hear moaning from his fellow passengers and flight attendants.
“I realized that we have landed,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do — whether to laugh or cry.”
Meanwhile, Asadov and Rahimli also survived but unlike Rakhimov, they were sat at the back of the plane.
Azerbaijan Airlines has suggested that the plane had suffered ‘physical and technical external interference,’ as per translation from the New York Times. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russian officials have gone on to launch an investigation into the crash.
Joe Yates