DUBAI/KIEV
A Ukrainian airliner crashed and burst into
flames shortly after take-off from Tehran early on Wednesday, killing all 176
people on board.
Debris
and smouldering parts from the Boeing 737, which carrier Ukraine International
Airlines said was last serviced two days ago, were strewn across a field
southwest of the Iranian capital as rescue workers with face masks retrieved
bodies.
Among
the victims were 82 from Iran, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three
Germans and three Britons, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.
Most passengers were in transit, the airline said.
Ukraine’s
embassy in Iran said the causes of the crash had not been disclosed and any
previous comments were not official. An embassy official said Iranian
authorities had asked it to rescind an earlier statement from Iran based on
preliminary information that had blamed the accident on engine failure.
Iranian TV said the crash was due
to unspecified technical problems, and Iranian media quoted a local aviation
official as saying the pilot did not declare an emergency.
It was
Kiev-based Ukraine International Airlines’ first fatal accident. The carrier
said it was doing everything possible to confirm the cause, and the
investigation would also involve Boeing and national authorities.
Under
international rules Iran has responsibility for investigating the crash.
Iranian
state broadcaster IRIB said one of the plane’s two black boxes had been found.
Semi-official news agency Mehr quoted the head of the country’s civil aviation
authority as saying Iran would not give the recorder to Boeing.
Relations
between Washington and Tehran are in crisis, with Iran having launched missiles
at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq several hours before the plane crash, in
retaliation for a U.S. drone strike last week that killed an Iranian military
commander.
Several international airlines on
Wednesday suspended flights over Iranian airspace due to security risks.
Safety experts say airliner accidents
are rarely triggered by a single cause and that it typically takes months of
investigation to understand all the factors behind them.
Offering “sincere condolences” to
relatives of victims, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had
instructed his prosecutor general to open criminal proceedings following the
crash, without specifying who they would involve.
Ukraine would test the airworthiness
of its entire civilian fleet of aircraft, he added.
The plane that crashed was a
three-year-old Boeing 737-800NG en route to Kiev. Its last scheduled
maintenance was on Jan. 6 and there was no sign that anything was wrong before
it took off from Tehran, the airline said.
A spokesman for the manufacturer, whose
shares initially fell 2.3%, said it was gathering more information.
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.
The
737-800’s twin engines are made by CFM International, a U.S.-French venture
co-owned by General Electric and France’s Safran.
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. However, an
uncontained engine failure releasing shrapnel can cause damage to other
aircraft systems.
Under
international rules, Ukraine would be involved in the investigation into
Wednesday’s crash, and the United States would usually be accredited as the
country where the jet was designed and built. France, where the engine maker
CFM has half its activities, may also be involved.
There
was no immediate word on whether the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
would be involved. The NTSB usually invites Boeing to give technical advice in
such investigations. - Reuters
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