It was Christmas Day when a passenger plane crashed in western Kazakhstan, near the city of Aktau. Out of 67 people on board, 38 died and

Sources told Reuters the plane had been hit by Russian fire. "It was as if it was drunk - not the same plane anymore," one passenger recalled.

An investigation into the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in Kazakhstan earlier this week came after the passenger plane experienced “physical and technical external interference,” the carrier said on Friday.

An Azerbaijani minister suggested Friday that an airliner that crashed this week was hit by a weapon, citing expert analysis and survivor testimony indicating that the plane was struck from the outside.

A survivor of Wednesday’s Azerbaijan Airlines crash said the plane’s pilots tried to land in Grozny, Chechnya three times, followed by an explosion outside the plane, according to an audio recording shared by Russian TV channel RT.

An investigation into the deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines flight in Kazakhstan earlier this week came after the passenger plane experienced “physical and technical external interference,” the carrier said Friday.

Russia's aviation watchdog said on Friday that an Azerbaijan Airlines plane which crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday had decided to reroute from its original destination in Chechnya amid dense fog and a local alert over Ukrainian drones.

A U.S. official tells NBC News there are early indications that the passenger plane that crashed in Kazakhstan may have been hit by a Russian anti-aircraft system. The official said if it turns out to be the case,

Some aviation experts suggested that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had been hit by air defence systems over the Russian republic of Chechnya and pro-government media in Azerbaijan quote officials as saying a Russian missile was responsible.

U.S. officials say Russia could be behind a passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan that left at least 38 dead Wednesday, but Russia is denying any involvement.