Many questions linger following fatal Ukrainian plane crash in Iran

Many questions are still left unanswered the day after a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off from Tehran early on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board.

This occurred just following Iran launching missile strikes at a pair of U.S. military bases in Iraq. Iranian state TV said the Boeing 737-800 crashed because of an engine fire due to a technical fault, but that has not been confirmed.

That doomed flight fell near its point of departure from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport. The airliner had been destined for Kiev, Ukraine.

“Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport- IKIA” by Mamooli is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Senior broadcast journalist on BBC News Hour Rozita Riazati took to Twitter and wrote: “Reuters reporting #Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to Boeing – says the head of Tehran’s civil aviation organisation. Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analysed. (Mehr)”

Reuters reporting #Iran will not give the black box of
the crashed Ukrainian airliner to Boeing – says the head of Tehran's civil aviation organisation. Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analysed. (Mehr)

— Rozita Riazati (@RozitaRiazati) January 8, 2020

She then retweeted a post from Balman Kalbasi (BBC: Persian Service. Iran, US politics) which read “This story is becoming very disturbing very fast. #Ukraine embassy in Tehran pulled down this statement.”

“Comms” by Martin Deutsch is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

As he quoted a passage from that statement saying, “According to preliminary information the plane crashed as a result of a technical failure of the engine. The possibility of a terrorist attack or missile strike are currently ruled out.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky added on social media, “Our embassy is clarifying information about the circumstances of the tragedy and the death toll.” Plus finished, “My sincere condolences to the family and friends of all passengers and crew.”

licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

The Ukrainian president ordered an inspection of all the country’s civil airplanes, “no matter the conclusions about the crash in Iran.” Among the victims of this tragedy were 82 from Iran, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Britons.

Yet some have openly speculated there is much more to this story. Beyond that several international airlines on Wednesday suspended flights over Iranian airspace due to security risks.