SHAHEDSHAHR, Iran (AP) A Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed today, just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capitals main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board.
The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing.
The plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different nations. Ukraines foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko, said that there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board the Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew. There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals, he said.
Airline officials said most of the passengers were en route to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, transiting through there to other destinations. Staff at the Boryspil airport in Kyiv, told The Associated Press that passengers on this flight are usually Iranian students coming back to Ukraine after winter holidays.
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy extended his condolences to the families of the victims. His office said he had cut his visit to Oman short and was returning to Kyiv because of the crash. The countrys Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk confirmed the casualty toll.
Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims, said parliament speaker, Dmytro Razumkov, in a Facebook statement.
The crash shocked Canada. Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne called it tragic news and said Wednesday Canadas hearts are with the loved ones of the victims, including many Canadians.
Ukraine International Airlines said it had indefinitely suspended flights to Tehran after the crash. It was one of the best planes we had, with an amazing, reliable crew, Yevhen Dykhne, president of the Ukraine International Airlines, said at a briefing following the crash.
Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, ordered a sweeping inspection of all civil airplanes in the country, no matter the conclusions about the crash in Iran.
The plane had been delayed from taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport by almost an hour. It took off to the west, but never made it above 8,000 feet in the air, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightRadar24.
It remains unclear what happened. Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Irans Road and Transportation Ministry, said it appeared a fire struck one of its engines. The pilot of the aircraft then lost control of the plane, sending it crashing into the ground, Biniaz said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Hassan Razaeifar, the head of air crash investigation committee, said it appeared the pilot couldnt communicate with air-traffic controllers in Tehran in the last moments of the flight. He did not elaborate. Authorities later said they found the planes so-called black boxes, which record cockpit conversations and instrument data.
Ukrainian authorities have offered to help with the investigation of the plane crash. Were preparing a group of specialists in order to help with the search operation and the investigation of the cause of the crash, Honcharuk said.
The plane, fully loaded with fuel for its 2,300-kilometer (1,430-mile) flight, slammed into farmland near the town of Shahedshahr on the outskirts of Tehran. Videos taken immediately after the crash show blazes lighting up the darkened fields before dawn.
Resident Din Mohammad Qassemi said he had been watching the news about the Iranian ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces in Iraq in revenge for the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani when he heard the crash.
