Rakhimov was aboard Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, traveling from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, to Grozny, the capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia.
The Embraer 190 aircraft faced difficulties near Grozny, having attempted three unsuccessful landings, according to flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov, as reported by The New York Times.
The plane ultimately crashed on the Caspian Sea’s shores in Kazakhstan, with authorities reporting it carried 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, 6 Kazakh citizens, and 3 Kyrgyz citizens. The tragic incident claimed 38 lives.
A video showing Rakhimov recording a poignant ‘last message’ to his wife as the plane descended has surfaced on social media.
He began filming when he noticed the plane losing altitude. The video shows oxygen masks deployed for some passengers, with others heard in panic and distress.
During the video, Rakhimov can be heard praying while alternately filming his face and the chaotic scene in the cabin.
Remarkably, he survived and has since shared his thoughts upon impact.
“I thought that was my last prayer,” he expressed to Reuters in a phone interview from his hospital bed in Baku.
Rakhimov, along with Asadov and fellow passenger Aydan Rahimli, recounted to The New York Times and Azerbaijan TV station that during the incident, some anxious passengers began standing as the plane was ‘struck in the air’.
Rakhimov told Reuters he heard a noise from outside the aircraft and, upon seeing the damage, thought it would collapse.
Upon impact, he described feeling his body twisting repeatedly until a sudden silence, followed by the sounds of moaning from other passengers and crew.
“I realized that we have landed,” he recounted. “I didn’t know what to do — whether to laugh or cry.”
Asadov and Rahimli also survived, seated at the aircraft’s rear, unlike Rakhimov.
Azerbaijan Airlines suggested the plane encountered ‘physical and technical external interference,’ according to a New York Times translation. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russian officials have launched an investigation into the crash.