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No survivors as Ukrainian Boeing plane crashes in Iran with 176 aboard

Published 01/08/2020, 12:54 PM
Updated 01/08/2020, 12:54 PM
© Reuters. Flowers and a memorial poster are placed outside the Iranian Embassy to commemorate the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 plane crash

© Reuters. Flowers and a memorial poster are placed outside the Iranian Embassy to commemorate the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 plane crash

By Babak Dehghanpisheh and Matthias Williams (NYSE:WMB)

DUBAI/KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, bursting into flames and killing all 176 people on board.

The Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 crashed hours after Iran fired missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, and officials said speculation about what happened was premature. Carrier Ukraine International Airlines said the plane was last serviced two days ago.

Smouldering parts and debris, including shoes and clothes, were strewn across a field southwest of the Iranian capital where rescue workers in face masks laid out scores of body bags.

Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Britons, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.

A passenger list https://www.flyuia.com/ua/ua/news/2020/flight-ps752-passenger-list from the airline showed members of the same family were killed, children were on board and many passengers were under 35. A newlywed couple that had gone to Iran to get married were among the Canadian victims.

Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gourji, 25, were graduate students in computer science at the University of Alberta. Four members of their wedding party were also on board with another 24 Iranian-Canadians from Edmonton, said Reza Akbari, president of the city's the Iranian Heritage Society.

"Oh god, I can’t believe this," Akbari told Reuters. "It’s shocking to the whole community."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "shocked and saddened" and added: "Our government will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated, and that Canadians’ questions are answered."

It was Kiev-based Ukraine International Airlines' first fatal crash, and the carrier said it was doing everything possible to establish the cause.

Ukraine will send a team of experts to Iran later on Wednesday to investigate the crash, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in the Ukrainian capital. He said he had instructed Ukraine's prosecutor general to open criminal proceedings.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was calling for complete cooperation with any investigation into cause of the crash and was prepared to offer Ukraine all possible assistance.

Under international rules, responsibility for investigating the crash lies with Iran, and Iranian state television said both of the plane's black box voice and data recorders had been found.

The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted the head of Iran's civil aviation organization as saying it was not clear which country Iran would send the black boxes to for analysis of the data, but it would not give them to Boeing.

AMATEUR VIDEO

An amateur video, run by Iranian news agencies and purportedly of the crashing plane, showed a flash in a dark sky descending. It was accompanied by comments that the aircraft was "on fire" and then a brighter flash as it appears to hit the ground. Reuters could not authenticate the footage.

Iran had earlier fired missiles at the bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike last week that killed an Iranian military commander.

Some airlines canceled Iran and Iraq flights and re-routed others away from both countries' airspace following the missile strikes.

Safety experts say airliner accidents rarely have a single cause and that it typically takes months of investigation to understand all the factors behind them.

In Paris, the maker of the plane's engines, French-U.S. firm CFM - co-owned by General Electric (NYSE:GE) and France’s Safran (PA:SAF) - said speculation regarding the cause was premature.

Iranian TV put the crash down to unspecified technical problems, and Iranian media quoted a local aviation official as saying the pilot did not declare an emergency.

STATEMENT RESCINDED

An official at Ukraine's embassy in Tehran said Iranian authorities had asked it to rescind an initial statement from Iran based on preliminary information that had blamed the accident on engine failure.

The plane that crashed was a three-year-old Boeing 737-800NG en route to Kiev. Its last scheduled maintenance was on Jan. 6, the airline said.

"We are in contact with our airline customer and stand by them in this difficult time. We are ready to assist in any way needed," the manufacturer said in a statement.

The 737-800 is one of the world’s most-flown models with a good safety record and does not have the software feature implicated in crashes of the 737 MAX. Boeing grounded its 737 MAX fleet in March after two crashes that killed 346 people.

Modern aircraft are designed and certified to cope with an engine failure shortly after take-off and to fly for extended periods on one engine. But an uncontained engine failure releasing shrapnel can cause damage to other aircraft systems.

© Reuters. Flowers and a memorial poster are placed outside the Iranian Embassy to commemorate the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 plane crash

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was monitoring developments surrounding the crash.

Latest comments

Russia was manning the Iranian air defense systems ..probably the same guy that was in Ukraine
“Under international rules overseen by the United Nations, Iran is responsible for leading the crash investigation ... Ukraine would be involved and the United States would usually be accredited as the country where the jet was designed and built.” Personally, with all that’s going on and with their loss, I think Canada should be put in charge of the investigation.
Totally agree with you... no one was even killed in the air strike and while I am thankful for our soldiers, I find it hard to believe that Iran would be satisfied that in terms of vengeance.  It just seems too weird and coincidental especially since they will not release the black box.  I don't think anything with Iran is over even though they might want us to think so, so that they can continue these types of covert attacks on us and our allies.
 "the victims included 82 from Iran, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Britons". . . Don't you think they would target Americans instead their own people and other countries?
why does everyone think Iran will seek vengeance? millions and millions of middle eastern people are dead because of the west. Where is the vengeance? its about time to leave those people alone. What can Iran do? if they do anything at all they will get decimated which is already in the plans and has been for years so the powers that be will not stop until Iran  is destroyed too. Im sure there will be some fake false flag event now they can blame on Iran like they did iraq so once Trump is gone the democrats will invade iran fully
it only takes one disgruntled iranian employee to do this.
It is very weird...
"The last scheduled maintenance of the aircraft took place on 06 January, 2020" - wth, an engine failure two days after maintenance?
Anyone care to have a go at the odds of a plane crashing in the same country that was shoved into open conflict only just recently?. The odds of a plane crashing is about 1 in 54 million alone. Now multiply those odds by the chances of being Iran, the same country being targeted, we're probably at 1 in quadrillion odds.. This was no accident. They think they can spit out silly headlines and fool us. Nice try.
Until this time seems like Iran retaliate only cause Iranian casualties. Around 185 people died:(
I completely agree with Lucky
Who was targeted? Iran was the one launching missiles last night; not the US. Even Iran isn't suggesting the US was attacking them last night. If you're theorizing that someone shot it down accidentally, then look no further than Iran itself.
Flying in man-made machines is never going to be 100% safe. If man were meant to fly..
military radar interference
This case will likely be available on Youtube via The Flight Channel within 365 days. When you see it then skip to the last 5th of the video clip to see what the NTSB conclude as the causes.
Main culprits are usually Maintenance issues or Pilot error.
Cockpit protocoll today is about 10 yrs behind common sense. -- When the industry implements recommentations* I made last year the accident rate will decline drastically. -- * Recommendations were 1.) more detailed parts management diagnostics with early warning messages, 2.) every plane should be online with an On The Ground Flight Support Center (OTG.SC) that is hooked slso online into the manufacturer's database. -- If trouble arises during the flight then supervisory and support services can save lives and bill their services case by case. -- OTG.SC services are more economical than paying out huge insurance claims for dead people.
You really want us to believe that a burning plane after take off was due to maintenance issues and pilot error? We need more concrete proof than the lies corporate feeds to people.
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