A French aviation expert said that the crash in Aktau on Christmas Day was “reminiscent” of the Malaysian Airlines flight which was downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine a decade ago, killing all 298 people on board.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane flew hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Baku to Grozny, and crashed on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Russia's aviation watchdog said a bird strike might have been the cause.

"No one claims that it was done on purpose," an Azerbaijan official told Reuters. They added their government "expects the Russian side to confess."

NATO called for a formal investigation into the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people in Kazakhstan on Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of

The flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to Grozny, in Russia’s south, when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 flight left Baku, Azerbaijan, on Christmas to Grozny, Russia. Instead, the plane crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

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.

BAKU (Reuters) -Russian air defences downed an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people, four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday.

Industry experts and Ukraine officials are suggesting that Russia likely is to blame for the Azerbaijan plane crash that killed dozens. NBC News' Daniele Hamamdjian reports on the ongoing investigation and what may have caused the crash.

A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia with 67 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan Wednesday, authorities said.