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.

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

Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage.

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.

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny in Russia was carrying 67 people when it crashed near Aktau early Wednesday. 25 people survived, Kazakhstan's emergencies ministry said.

The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea.

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.

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

Several theories over the possible reason being the deadly Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash were doing the rounds on Thursday. As many as 38 people were reportedly killed in the plane crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau city on Wednesday.

A passenger plane carrying 67 people from Azerbaijan to southern Russia crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, local authorities said.