The Associated Press reported last night that a Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people, including 73 Canadians, crashed Wednesday near an airport in the capital of Iran, state TV reported. All onboard have died. Others onboard were citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK.
The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, the report said. Originally, the rumors from the Ukraine embassy claimed they suspected mechanical failure.
Iran is investigating but won’t turn over the black box to Ukraine.
“An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced.”
Flight data show the Ukrainian plane stopped sending data almost immediately after takeoff.
The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq that housed U.S. forces.
Early this morning the Ukrainian embassy in Iran put out a new statement on the crash of the Ukrainian airliner, omitting the previously reported ‘engine failure’ as the possible cause of the crash.
Reuters also reported the Ukraine embassy in Iran dropped an initial reference to engine failure as the cause of a Ukrainian plane crash outside Tehran on Wednesday.
In a second statement, they reported no cause for the crash has been announced officially.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk cautioned against speculation about a missile downing the plane until the results of an investigation were known.
He also said that Ukraine had banned flights through Iranian airspace by its airliners from Jan. 9.
The claim of mechanical issues appears to have originated with Iranian authorities, but Ukraine isn’t sold on that.
Al-Hadath, an Arabic news site, posted a video of the Ukrainian airliner as it crashed, it appears to have exploded seconds before it crashed:
The aftermath:
#Breaking: The Ukraine Airlines Boeing 737 what has crashed near Tehran, #Iran and killed 80 Iranians and 68 Canadian/Iranians and in total 180 people, has never made a mayday call to Ukraine or Tehran prior it going down! Meaning something happened to it in the air… pic.twitter.com/rdH1rC4302
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) January 8, 2020
In Pictures: The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport early hours on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard, State TV confirmed. pic.twitter.com/8C0GXEzB3Y
— AVA TODAY (@ava_today) January 8, 2020
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