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Ukraine Airline Crash in Iran Prompts Conflicting Statements Little Clarity, Many Theories in Ukraine Airline Crash in Iran
(about 3 hours later)
A Ukrainian airliner carrying at least 176 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, killing everyone on board. It was unclear what caused the disaster, but the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, went down amid an escalating, violent conflict between the United States and Iran. The mood in Tehran was tense on Wednesday morning when Ukraine International Flight 752 took off, bound for Kyiv. Just hours earlier, Iran had fired missiles at two bases in Iraq that house United States troops, and Iranian forces were on alert for an American counterstrike.
Early statements from both Ukraine and Iran about what happened to the flight, which was bound for Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, were both confusing and contradictory. Just hours earlier, Iran had fired missiles at two bases in Iraq that house United States troops, and Iranian forces were on alert for an American counterstrike. Nothing was unusual about the plane’s takeoff and ascent, according to preliminary satellite data. But minutes into the flight, the Boeing 737 was engulfed in flames as it plunged to the ground, killing at least 176 people on board.
Though the evidence remained sketchy, aviation experts said that what was known indicated that the plane could have been attacked. Investigators should have that possibility “at the top of their agenda,” said Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States. In the best of circumstances, determining the cause of a plane crash can take a year or more of difficult investigative work and involve multiple governments. Resolving what happened over the skies of Tehran may prove even more complicated given the tensions between Iran, where the plane went down, and the United States, where it was built by Boeing, a company in the midst of crisis after two earlier deadly accidents.
The Iranian Students’ News Agency, a state-run media organization, shared a video that it said showed the predawn crash, with an aircraft, apparently in flames, descending in the distance before a bright burst filled the sky upon impact. The immediate aftermath of the crash brought confusing and contradictory statements from Ukraine and Iran. Ukraine’s embassy in Iran initially issued a statement ruling out terrorism or a rocket attack. But the statement was later removed from the embassy’s website and replaced with one saying it was too early to draw any conclusions.
Photos and videos from the crash site showed rescuers in a field littered with plane debris, smoldering fires and the belongings of passengers. “All possible versions of what occurred must be examined,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a Facebook post, adding that Ukrainian experts would travel to Tehran to investigate and recover the bodies of Ukrainians.
Ukraine International Flight 752 left Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran at 6:12 a.m. Wednesday and abruptly ceased the automatic transmission of flight data two to three minutes later, though it remained in the air for a few minutes longer. The crash’s timing raised immediate suspicions. Iran fired at Americans forces early on Wednesday in retaliation for a United States airstrike on Friday that killed a top Iranian general and the leader of Iran-backed Iraqi militias — the latest in a long sequence of escalations.
Experts say that is an extremely rare sequence of events, even in a catastrophic accident — and all the more unexpected in a relatively new plane, built in 2016, of a model with a very good safety record. Investigators should put consideration of an attack “at the top of their agenda,” said Peter Goelz, a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States.
The plane had reached an altitude of almost 8,000 feet and a speed of more than 300 miles per hour, according to Flightradar24, which tracks aircraft by their radio signals. On Tuesday, hours before the crash, the F.A.A. barred American airliners from flying over Iran, citing a risk that commercial planes would be mistaken for military aircraft. Several non-American carriers rerouted flights on Wednesday to avoid Iraq and Iran, according to Flightradar24. In 2014, early in the war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists, a Russian missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing 298 people.
“Planes just don’t blow up in midair,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at Teal Group, an aviation consulting firm. “It doesn’t work like that.”
After an accident, the “black boxes,” or flight data recorders, are often sent to the plane’s maker for analysis, but the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Ali Abedzadeh, told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that Iran would not send the recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines flight to Boeing, an American company.
“We will not give the black box to the manufacturer and the Americans,” Mehr quoted him as saying. Ukrainian officials, he said, would be involved in Iran’s investigation of the crash.
Michael Huerta, a former administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, said the fact that the crash happened in Iran would complicate the investigation. Normally, the country where a crash occurs leads the investigation, and includes officials from the country where the plane was produced, in this case the United States.
“In global aviation we would like to think that the technical experts will rule the day, but given that it’s Iran, we’ll have to wait and see,” Mr. Huerta said.
The N.T.S.B., which often takes part in aviation accident investigations in other parts of the world, “is working with the State Department and other agencies to determine the best course of action,” said Christopher O’Neil, a spokesman.
A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said the crash was not a result of any military action.A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said the crash was not a result of any military action.
“They are spreading propaganda that the Ukrainian flight was targeted,” the Iranian news media quoted Mr. Shekarchi as saying. “This is ridiculous. Most of the passengers on this flight were our valued young Iranian men and women. Whatever we do, we do it for the protection and defense of our country and our people.”“They are spreading propaganda that the Ukrainian flight was targeted,” the Iranian news media quoted Mr. Shekarchi as saying. “This is ridiculous. Most of the passengers on this flight were our valued young Iranian men and women. Whatever we do, we do it for the protection and defense of our country and our people.”
Qassem Biniaz, an official at the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, told the Islamic Republic News Agency, the government’s official news agency, that an engine on the plane caught fire and that the pilot was unable to regain control. Typically, the country where a crash occurs leads an investigation, and includes officials from the country where the plane was produced, as well as countries where the victims were from. With the United States and Iran engaged in an escalating, violent conflict, it was immediately apparent cooperation could be fraught.
Iranian news organizations tied to the government referred to technical problems with the plane, but they did not elaborate or cite evidence. Later, Mr. Abedzadeh told Mehr that so far there was no evidence of technical problems. The “black boxes,” or flight data recorders, were recovered from the crash site, and are usually sent to the plane’s maker for analysis. However, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Ali Abedzadeh, told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that Iran would not send the recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines flight to Boeing.
An airliner should be able to fly even if one engine fails. An “uncontained” engine failure, in which parts of an engine disintegrate, can spray shrapnel that can damage or even destroy a plane, but such events are rare. “We will not give the black box to the manufacturer and the Americans,” Mehr quoted him as saying. Ukrainian officials, he said, would be involved in Iran’s investigation of the crash.
However, the airline promised a full investigation, involving officials from Ukraine, Iran and Boeing. Mr. Zelensky said that he had ordered Ukraine’s prosecutor general to open a criminal investigation into the crash and that the country’s entire civil aviation fleet would be checked.
The plane appears to have banked northwest and flown for several miles after its transponder stopped working. It crashed on agricultural land near the village of Khalaj Abad, about 10 miles northwest of where the plane’s signal was last logged by Flightradar24. Photographs of the crash site showed debris spread over an area at least 200 yards long. “In global aviation we would like to think that the technical experts will rule the day,” said Michael Huerta, a former administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. “But given that it’s Iran, we’ll have to wait and see.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States, which often takes part in aviation accident investigations in other parts of the world, said it had not yet been asked to participate.
The 737 left Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran at 6:12 a.m. Wednesday. There were 176 people aboard, including nine crew members, according to the airline, which released the names of the dead. The Iranian authorities listed 177, while some Iranian news organizations cited other figures.
The plane had reached an altitude of almost 8,000 feet and a speed of more than 300 miles an hour, according to Flightradar24, which tracks aircraft by their radio signals. Two to three minutes after takeoff, it abruptly ceased the automatic transmission of flight data, though it remained in the air for a few minutes longer. Mr. Abedzadeh said the airliner had not contacted the control tower about an emergency.
The Iranian Students News Agency, a state-run media organization, shared a video that it said showed the predawn crash, with an aircraft, apparently in flames, descending in the distance before a bright burst filled the sky upon impact. The New York Times identified another video that showed the crash from a different angle.
“It woke us up,” said Sajad Shirkhani, 29, who lives near the crash site. “We got out of bed and ran outside, and all of the windows on our home were broken. We ran outside, we thought we were hit by a missile, that there was a war.”“It woke us up,” said Sajad Shirkhani, 29, who lives near the crash site. “We got out of bed and ran outside, and all of the windows on our home were broken. We ran outside, we thought we were hit by a missile, that there was a war.”
After the crash, Ukraine’s embassy in Iran issued a statement ruling out terrorism or a rocket attack as a cause of the crash. But the statement was later removed from the embassy’s website and replaced with one saying it was too early to draw any conclusions. The plane crashed on agricultural land near the village of Khalaj Abad, about 10 miles northwest of where the plane’s signal was last logged by Flightradar24. The plane appears to have banked northwest and flown for several miles after its transponder stopped working.
Mr. Abedzadeh said the airliner had not contacted the control tower about an emergency. Photos and videos from the crash site showed rescuers in a field littered with plane debris, smoldering fires and the belongings of passengers. An analysis by The Times of photographs of debris, structural damage and blood spatter suggests that the plane was returning to the Tehran airport when it crashed.
The disaster has the potential to add to the crisis at Boeing, which has been dealing with the fallout from two crashes involving a different model of jet, the 737 Max, for which software has been blamed. There was disagreement on the breakdown of the victims’ nationalities, though that may be because some passengers held dual citizenship; Iran’s tally included 147 Iranians and two Canadians, while Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, said there were 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians.
There were 176 people aboard the Ukraine International Airlines flight, including nine crew members, according to the airline, which released the names of the dead, but the Iranian authorities listed 177, while some Iranian news organizations cited other figures. The breakdown of the victims’ nationalities also diverged, though that may be because some passengers held dual citizenship; Iran’s tally included 147 Iranians and two Canadians, while Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, said there were 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians.
“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,” Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said in a statement.“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,” Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said in a statement.
At a news conference at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv several hours after the crash, Ukraine International Airlines executives said the plane had been in good working order and was being operated by a highly trained crew. They offered no theories as to what might have happened and declined to comment on whether it might have been shot down. Another theory into the crash was that one of the plane’s two engines failed. Qassem Biniaz, an official at the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, told the Islamic Republic News Agency, the government’s official news agency, that an engine on the plane caught fire and that the pilot was unable to regain control.
“Given their experience, it is very difficult to say that there was something wrong with the crew,” Ihor Sosnovskyi, the airline’s vice president of flight operations, said at the briefing. The Fars News Agency, a semiofficial Iranian media outlet, said in an article about the crash that “Boeing 737 passenger planes are notorious for frequent technical issues,” an apparent reference to the two crashes involving the company’s 737 Max. Later, Mr. Abedzadeh told Mehr that so far there was no evidence of technical problems.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that he had ordered the prosecutor general to open a criminal investigation into the crash and that the country’s entire civil aviation fleet would be checked. Commercial airliners are designed to be able to fly even if one engine fails. Engine fires are fairly common on commercial jets, but rarely result in crashes.
“All possible versions of what occurred must be examined,” Mr. Zelensky said in a Facebook post, adding that Ukrainian experts would travel to Tehran to investigate and recover the bodies of Ukrainians. An “uncontained” engine failure, in which parts of an engine disintegrate, sometimes spraying debris that can damage or even destroy a plane, is rare. In 2018, a Southwest Airlines flight on its way from New York to Dallas experienced such an emergency, killing one person.
Boeing faces its own pressure. The company has been under intense scrutiny after the crash of two 737 Max jets in less than five months that together killed 346 people. The Max has been grounded worldwide since March, creating a crisis for the company and leading to the firing of the chief executive. The plane that crashed in Iran, a 737-NG, was manufactured in 2016 and delivered directly from the factory, the airline said, and it had most recently undergone scheduled maintenance on Monday, two days before the crash. The airline offered no theories as to what might have happened and declined to comment on whether it might have been shot down, but noted that the plane was being operated by a highly trained crew.
As the company struggles to get a fix for the Max approved by regulators, new safety risks have recently emerged with the plane. The company may also need to assess those risks in the 737-NG family, which includes the 737-800. While airlines in the former Soviet Union generally have poor safety records, Ukraine International Airlines said on its website that its safety was audited and met F.A.A. standards for code-sharing flights with foreign partners. It had not previously experienced a fatal crash, according to a list of Ukrainian aircraft accidents compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation.
The 737-NG is one of the world’s most widely used airliners; more than 7,000 have been built since 1998, and it has a very good safety record. It has logged more than 250 million hours of flight time and fewer than a dozen fatal accidents. The 737-NG is one of the world’s most widely used airliners; more than 7,000 have been built since 1998, and the plane has logged more than 250 million hours of flight time and fewer than a dozen fatal accidents.
“We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information,” Boeing said in a statement. But Boeing’s engineering has come under scrutiny over the past year, after two crashes involving a different model of jet, the 737 Max. Those accidents, which were caused in part by new software on the plane, have plunged Boeing into its biggest-ever crisis. The Max has been grounded worldwide since March, and the company’s chief executive was fired last month.
The crash came at a tense time in Iran, as conflict with the United States had the country on edge. Iran fired missiles early Wednesday at bases in Iraq that are used by Americans forces, in retaliation for a United States airstrike on Friday that killed a top Iranian general and the leader of Iran-backed Iraqi militias — the latest in a long sequence of escalations. As the company struggles to get a fix for the Max approved by regulators, new safety risks have recently emerged with the plane. The company may also need to assess those risks in the 737-NG family, which includes the 737-800. Boeing shares were down almost 2 percent on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the F.A.A. barred American airliners from flying over Iran, citing a risk that commercial planes would be mistaken for military aircraft. Several non-American carriers rerouted flights on Wednesday to avoid Iraq and Iran, according to Flightradar24. If the crash in Tehran turns out to be a mechanical failure, raising questions about the 737-NG, the results could be devastating for Boeing. “We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information,” Boeing said in a statement.
In 2014, early in the war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists, a Russian missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, killing 298 people. Reporting was contributed by Andrew Kramer, Natalie Kitroeff, James Glanz, Malachy Browne, Nilo Tabrizy, Farnaz Fassihi, Christiaan Triebert and Sarah Kerr.
The crash could touch a nerve politically in Ukraine, because Ukraine International Airlines is partly owned through a network of offshore companies by Ihor Kolomoisky. Mr. Kolomoisky is an oligarch with close ties to Ukraine’s president.
While airlines in the former Soviet Union generally have poor safety records, Ukraine International Airlines said on its website that its safety is audited and meets F.A.A. standards for code-sharing flights with foreign partners. It had not previously suffered a fatal crash, according to a list of Ukrainian aircraft accidents compiled by the Flight Safety Foundation.
The airline said the plane was manufactured in 2016 and delivered directly from the factory, and that it had most recently undergone scheduled maintenance on Monday, two days before the crash. The airline said it was canceling flights to Tehran indefinitely and promised a full investigation into the causes of the crash, involving officials from Ukraine, Iran and Boeing.
Ukraine International Airlines began in the 1990s as the state flag carrier of a newly independent Ukraine, but it was subsequently privatized. Its website calls the business a “public private entity.” Before suspending service to Tehran on Wednesday, the carrier offered five direct flights per week from the Iranian capital to Kyiv. The airline flies a fleet of 35 Boeings and seven Embraer aircraft, according to its website.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it had set up a crisis working group and a telephone hotline in response to the crash.
Reporting was contributed by Natalie Kitroeff, David Gelles, James Glanz, Malachy Browne, Nilo Tabrizy and Farnaz Fassihi.