Iran says its military "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet (176 dead) [Post #83]

[MenInG]

Iran says its military "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet (176 dead) [Post #83]

A Ukrainian Boeing-737 with 180 people onboard has crashed in Iran, according to local media.

The aircraft belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed just after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, said the Fars state news agency.

Preliminary reports suggest that the plane was en route to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

It is unclear whether the incident is linked to the Iran-US confrontation.

Rescue teams have been sent to the area, near the airport, where the aircraft crashed.

"The plane is on fire but we have sent crews ... and we may be able to save some passengers," Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's emergency services, told state television, according to Reuters news agency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51029994

 

[GenericBrand]

Iran may have accidentally just shot down a commercial air flight

 

[Pakistanian]

Iran may have accidentally just shot down a commercial air flight

Nope, there's no way they could have. They aren't launching missiles from Tehran.

 

[minamino]

Nope, there's no way they could have. They aren't launching missiles from Tehran.

We will never know what happened with that plane. From the video, it seems like it wasn't a technical fault at all and the black box is with Iranian police. All I know is innocent civilians have died among them a lot of students.

 

[MenInG]

Update on Iran crash


A Ukrainian Boeing-737 carrying 176 people has crashed in Iran and officials say there is no chance of finding survivors.

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 to Kyiv went down after taking off from Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran at 06:12 local time (02:42 GMT).

The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada.

Ukraine's Tehran embassy initially blamed engine failure but later removed the statement.

It said any comment regarding the cause of the accident prior to a commission's inquiry was not official. Iranian media blamed technical problems and quoted an aviation official who said no emergency had been declared.

Debris and engine parts from the Boeing 737-800 NG plane were found some 10km (6 miles) from the airport and rescue workers with face masks searched the wreckage for victims.

Who was on board?
Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including all nine crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Britons and three Germans, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.

Spoiler

Ukrainian officials said that 169 people had bought tickets for the flight but two had not boarded the plane.

It was unclear why such a large number of Canadians were on board, however the airline provides relatively inexpensive flights via Kyiv to Toronto.

Sweden's foreign ministry said its embassy in Tehran was seeking further information about the crash. Foreign Minister Ann Linde said she had spoken to Mr Prystaiko.

Iran's head of emergency operations said 147 of the victims were Iranian. That would suggest that 65 of the foreign nationals had dual nationalities.

Three British nationals among dead in plane crash
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was cutting short a trip to Oman and flying back to Kyiv. He warned against "speculation or unchecked theories regarding the catastrophe" until official reports were ready.

"My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew," he said in a statement.

Ukraine International Airlines has suspended flights to Tehran indefinitely. The airline said that the Boeing 737-800 was built in 2016 and had its last scheduled maintenance on Monday.

There was no sign of any problems with the plane before take-off and the airline's president said it had an "excellent, reliable crew". UIA has never had a fatal crash before.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine's entire civil aviation fleet would be checked for airworthiness and criminal proceedings would be opened into the disaster.

Rescue teams have been sent to the crash site but the head of Iran's Red Crescent told state media that it was "impossible" for anyone to have survived the crash.

Rescue workers had found one of the airliner's black boxes, Iranian media reported.

Ukraine has organised special planes to fly to Iran to take back the bodies of those killed, pending Iran's agreement, Mr Zelensky said.

This type of Boeing is one of the most widely-used commercial airliners in the world. Aviation safety analyst Todd Curtis told the BBC: "The airplane was heavily fragmented which means either there was an intense impact on the ground or something happened in the sky," he said.

What went wrong?
Flight data from the Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737-800 is openly available online. It shows that the plane climbed normally after taking-off from Tehran.

It reached nearly 8,000ft (2,400m) before the aircraft's data suddenly disappears.

This is unusual and would suggest some type of catastrophic incident on board the plane. We have no evidence at this stage to tell us what caused the incident.

According to a former air crash investigator, any suggestion of engine failure feels premature. This possibility can't be ruled out at this early stage but an airliner such as the Boeing 737-800 is designed to keep flying if there is an engine failure.

Plus, if there was a failure then we would normally expect the flight data to show the plane's climb becoming less steep.

What do we know about the airline?
By Vitaliy Shevchenko, BBC Monitoring

Ukraine International is a well-established private airline with a very good safety record. The Tehran crash is its first such accident since it was founded in 1992.

Although it is not strictly speaking a budget airline, many of its worldwide flights are keenly priced and therefore popular with travellers.

There is no Iranian community of any size in Ukraine and few Ukrainians in Iran, so the Tehran-Kyiv flight is above all a connecting service to destinations beyond Ukraine.

The 63 Canadians killed in the crash had most likely intended to board a later flight from Kyiv to Toronto. Canada's biggest city is home to a large Iranian community and is even referred to by some Iranians as "Tehran-to".

After the crash, Ukraine International suspended its services to and from Tehran until further notice.

There are several thousand Boeing 737-800s in operation around the world which have completed tens of millions of flights. They have been involved in 10 incidents, including this crash, where at least one passenger was killed, Mr Curtis said.

Mr Curtis said Iranian, Ukrainian, US and French authorities would all be involved in the investigation, but it was unclear how they would work together. Iran is currently under US sanctions and there are severe tensions between the two countries.

Normally the US National Transportation Safety Board would have a role to play in the investigation.

"From all appearances this was an airplane that had been properly cared for and there were no outstanding issues with respect to European authorities or American authorities so at this point there is nothing that points to a particular cause," Mr Curtis said.

"And also one cannot discount the possibility that something outside the aircraft, a mid-air collision or some other issue, may have been involved."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51029994

 

[cricketjoshila]

Heard Iran wont hand over the black box.

Something isnt right here.

 

[finalfantasy7]

Heard Iran wont hand over the black box.

Something isnt right here.

Source?

 

[161]

Shot down by one of their own SAMS .. should have closed off their airspace to prevent this.

 

[161]

Note the holes caused by blast fragmentation warhead

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Another Boeing incident, doesnt get better does it.

 

[Saeed]

Instead of taking revenge from US Iran ended up killing Iranian civilians and other nationalities; and Iraqis in Iraq. This is Javed Zarif’s proportionate measure.

 

[Waleed93]

Iran will never let the world know what actually happened with this plane. They have just shot down a commercial plane, carrying innocent civilians who had nothing to do with their war against America.

Hope a serious investigation will take place and RIP to the victims.

 

[Abdullah719]

Source?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UPDATE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UPDATE</a> Tehran says it will not hand over to Americans the recovered flight recorders, the so-called black boxes, for investigation<a href="https://t.co/6Wj4VUQ8s3">https://t.co/6Wj4VUQ8s3</a></p>— AFP news agency (@AFP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1214924322265059330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered a criminal investigation into the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines plane near the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning, as the country's embassy in Tehran hastened to retract its initial response to the tragedy.

The plane was carrying at least 176 people to Kiev when it crashed shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini international. The aircraft left the airport just after 6.10 a.m. Tehran time and crashed some five minutes later, according to Iranian officials.

Ukraine's embassy in Iran initially issued a statement saying the aircraft was brought down engine failure, not because of terrorism or a missile strike.

But a short time later, that web page disappeared and was replaced with another that said the cause would be determined by an investigative commission. "Any statements regarding the causes of the accident prior to the decision of the commission are not official," it explained.

Zelenskiy, meanwhile, warned against "speculation or unchecked theories regarding the catastrophe" until official reports had been completed, the BBC noted.

Iranian emergency official Pir Hossein Kulivand and Iran's Red Crescent have said there are no survivors from the crash. Kulivand said that 147 of the dead were Iranian citizens.

Ukrainian Passenger Jet Crashes in Iran, 176 People KilledREAD MORE
The crash occurred as Iran launched ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops. There is no indication that the two events are linked.

Elliot Higgins—the founder of journalism website Bellingcat that investigated the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014—dismissed speculation that photos of the debris indicated that Wednesday's crash was caused by anti-aircraft fire.

Referring to damage on some parts of debris, Higgins wrote on Twitter that "in my mind it's most likely to be debris from the aircraft itself that caused the damage…the wing damage shown doesn't indicate AA was used against the Ukrainian aircraft."

Iranian civil aviation spokesperson Reza Jafarzadeh said that the plane went down some five minutes after leaving the airport.

"The pilot had no contact with the tower and didn't announce an emergency situation before the crash," he added, according to the The Guardian.

Footage shared on Twitter reportedly showed the plane falling from the sky early on Wednesday. Circulated by the ISNA news agency, the video showed a large fireball in the distance as the aircraft hit the ground.

The Associated Press reported that the aircraft crashed on farmland. Reporters at the scene described emergency officials working amid a field of debris and bodies.

The plane was a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The company—which has been grappling with safety concerns related to its 737 Max aircraft—released a short statement on Twitter saying it was "aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information" on the incident.

Zelenskiy has cut short a visit to Oman to return to Kiev. The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Dmytro Razumkov, said on Facebook, "Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims."

Iran is already on edge following weeks of tensions with the U.S. in neighboring Iraq. Wednesday's plane crash came soon after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles against military bases in Iraq hosting American troops, in retaliation for last week's assassination of top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani.

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the strike—which appears to have inflicted no American or Iraqi casualties—was conducted "in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter." He added, "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."

https://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-...not-missiles-terrorism-tehran-embassy-1480965

 

[The_Odd_One]

Iran will never let NTSB, world's leader in air crash investigations, just because it is an American organization.

Several sources have already reported that Iran shot down this plane, such a despicable act which caused the death of 150+ innocent civilians.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ar" dir="rtl"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A5%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#إيران</a> — أنباء عن سقوط الطائرة الأوكرانية نتيجة إصابتها بصاروخ إيراني عن طريق الخطأ</p>— الحدث (@AlHadath) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlHadath/status/1214758196511985664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JaDed]

63 Canadians among dead..

 

[Arya]

Pretty obvious what happened. If Iran doesn't cooperate in investigations, they need to be hit by severe sanctions.

 

[ahmedzee]

Pretty sure it wasn't the missiles. Take off is a risky procedure and this happened right after take off. Nonetheless, investigation should happen.

RIP for the victims. Terrible that lives are lost.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Pretty obvious what happened. If Iran doesn't cooperate in investigations, they need to be hit by severe sanctions.

You seriously think no one would notice missiles right outside tehran

 

[The_Odd_One]

Pretty sure it wasn't the missiles. Take off is a risky procedure and this happened right after take off. Nonetheless, investigation should happen.

RIP for the victims. Terrible that lives are lost.

737 is one of the most successful and reliable planes in the world. It can take off on one engine only. The transponders also stopped responding which is very suspicious - they have a backup generator and will still work even if engines fail.

So far, none from ATC has reported that the pilots declared an emergency. There was no Mayday or Pan-pan call. The debris is spread over a vast field which indicates breakup before impact. Considering incidents likes these have happened before, it is not unreasonable to think that an Iranian missile may have brought down this plane.

 

[Ronaldo7]

What is the probability that a plane crash (something which is extremely rare in itself) would have happened the exact time when Iran were firing missiles?

 

[JaDed]

What is the probability that a plane crash (something which is extremely rare in itself) would have happened the exact time when Iran were firing missiles?

Even if it was 50% ,It increases to 80% coz of no cooperation, I think Canada should have a say in it their citizens died.

 

[Pakistanian]

I don't think they shot it, they aren't sharing the black box because they don't trust America and western organizations not cause they have something to hide. You guys are falling for fake news propaganda.

 

[KingKhanWC]

737 is one of the most successful and reliable planes in the world. It can take off on one engine only. The transponders also stopped responding which is very suspicious - they have a backup generator and will still work even if engines fail.

So far, none from ATC has reported that the pilots declared an emergency. There was no Mayday or Pan-pan call. The debris is spread over a vast field which indicates breakup before impact. Considering incidents likes these have happened before, it is not unreasonable to think that an Iranian missile may have brought down this plane.

US shot down an Iranian airliner in the past, also not unreasonable to suggest they did something similar here.

 

[JaDed]

I don't think they shot it, they aren't sharing the black box because they don't trust America and western organizations not cause they have something to hide. You guys are falling for fake news propaganda.

No western news is reporting Iran shot it down.

 

[Markhor]

Who needs an investigation when we already have armchair experts already concluding Iran shot down the jet ?

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a The initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies is that a Ukrainian airliner which crashed in Iran on Wednesday was not brought down by a missile, said a Canadian security source to <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Reuters</a></p>— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1214999101454065666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JaDed]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a The initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies is that a Ukrainian airliner which crashed in Iran on Wednesday was not brought down by a missile, said a Canadian security source to <a href="https://twitter.com/Reuters?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Reuters</a></p>— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmichaiStein1/status/1214999101454065666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[MENTION=142256]Pakistanian[/MENTION]

 

[MenInG]

Iran has said it will not hand over black box flight recorders recovered from a plane that crashed with 176 people on board to manufacturer Boeing or to the US.

The Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 went down just minutes after taking off from Tehran's airport, leaving no survivors.

Under global aviation rules, Iran has the right to lead the investigation.

But manufacturers are typically involved and experts say few countries are capable of analysing black boxes.

Spoiler

The crash came at a time of high tensions between Iran and the US and just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two air bases housing US forces in Iraq. There is no evidence the two events are linked.

Normally, the US National Transportation Safety Board would have a role to play in any international investigations involving US-made Boeings. But the board must act with permission and in accordance with legislation of the foreign country concerned.

In comments published by Iran's conservative Mehr news agency, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO), Ali Abedzadeh, said: "We will not give the black box to the manufacturer and the Americans."

"This accident will be investigated by Iran's aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present," he added.

Who are the victims of the crash?
Tributes to three Britons killed in plane crash
Mr Abedzadeh said it was not yet clear which country would analyse the black boxes - a cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.

Boeing said it was "ready to assist in any way needed", while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country expected to have a role in the investigation and had offered technical assistance.

What happened?
The Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 to Kyiv had 176 people on board when it crashed in Iran on Wednesday.

The majority of passengers were from Iran and Canada.

Ukraine's Tehran embassy initially blamed engine failure but later removed the statement, saying any comment regarding the cause of the accident prior to a commission's inquiry was not official.

There was good visibility when the plane went down near Iran's capital, according to the Flightradar24 aviation website. Officials from the airline said the crew were experienced.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "speculation or unchecked theories regarding the catastrophe" until official reports were ready.

Iranian media blamed technical problems and quoted an aviation official who said no emergency had been declared.

Mr Abedzadeh said "terrorism" had played no role in the crash, according to Mehr.

Who was on board?
Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including all nine crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Britons and three Germans, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said. Fifteen of the dead were children.

But the German government later said "we currently have no knowledge that German citizens are among the victims of the plane crash in Iran".

Iran's head of emergency operations said 147 of the victims were Iranian. That would suggest that 65 of the foreign nationals had dual nationalities. The Ukrainian airline gave a helpline number for further information about passengers: +38-044-581-50-19.

Mr Trudeau said 138 passengers on the flight were en route to Canada via Kyiv.

"All people who won't be coming home to their parents, their friends, their colleagues or their family," he said. "All had so much potential, so much life ahead of them".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51042326

 

[uberkoen]

I don't think they shot it, they aren't sharing the black box because they don't trust America and western organizations not cause they have something to hide. You guys are falling for fake news propaganda.

This is exactly what it is. People need to stop with the silly conspiracy theories. Plus, Iran has the legal right to lead the investigation.

 

[The_Odd_One]

This is exactly what it is. People need to stop with the silly conspiracy theories. Plus, Iran has the legal right to lead the investigation.

They do but they still need to collaborate with Boeing, the manufacturer and a reputable authority that can decode the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. It is a standard practice in these investigations.

If not Americans, they can definitely work with French experts. However, if they keep all the evidence to themselves, then serious questions will be raised regarding the accuracy of findings.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Who needs an investigation when we already have armchair experts already concluding Iran shot down the jet ?

Ask the same from the other experts who already declared the accident caused by a mechanical failure.

 

[uberkoen]

They do but they still need to collaborate with Boeing, the manufacturer and a reputable authority that can decode the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. It is a standard practice in these investigations.

If not Americans, they can definitely work with French experts. However, if they keep all the evidence to themselves, then serious questions will be raised regarding the accuracy of findings.

They can if they want to but legally they don't have to.

 

[MenInG]

Academics, students and a couple that travelled to Iran to get married, were among the 63 Canadians killed when a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran early on Wednesday.

Key points:
About 30 Iranian-Canadians from Edmonton were on the plane
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau wants Canada to play a big role in Iran's crash probe
The crash ranked among the worst losses of life for Canadians in an aviation disaster
All 176 people on board the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 were killed when the plane crashed en route to the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Among the victims were 167 passengers and nine crew members — 82 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians, 63 Canadians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British people.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US soldiers, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the three-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation was ongoing.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed his Government would get answers. Canada's Foreign Minister was in touch with the Ukraine Government, and the Transport Minster was reaching out to his international counterparts.

"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," Mr Trudeau said in a statement.

"There is a clear need for answers … Canada is very concerned on this."

Spoiler

They were on the plane with four members of their wedding party and another 24 Iranian-Canadians from Edmonton, Mr Akbari said.

"Oh God, I cant believe this," he told Reuters.

"Its shocking to the whole community."

Mr Trudeau said 138 people on the plane were connecting to a flight to Canada.

"All had so much potential, so much life ahead of them," Mr Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

"Know that all Canadians are grieving with you," he said, addressing the victims' families.

Canada broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, but Mr Trudeau said he expected Canada to play a big role in Iran's probe into the plane crash.

Mr Trudeau said Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne would call his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif later today to underline the need for a proper probe of the crash.

"Canada is one of a handful of countries with a high degree of expertise when it comes to these sorts of accidents and therefore we have much to contribute," Mr Trudeau said.

"I am confident that in our engagement, both through our allies and directly, we are going to make sure that we are a substantive contributor to this investigation."

Italy normally acts as a proxy for communication between Canada and Iran, and the Ukrainian ambassador told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation his Government was willing to help.

Mr Trudeau would not comment on possible causes for the tragedy.

"Obviously we are very, very early days on the investigation. It's dangerous to speculate on possible causes," he said.

Iranian state television said both of the plane's black box voice and data recorders had been found.

The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted the head of Iran's civil aviation organisation, Ali Abedzadeh, as saying it was not clear which country Iran would send the black boxes to for analysis of the data, but it would not share them with Boeing.

The crash ranked among the worst losses of life for Canadians in an aviation disaster.

Flags flew at half-mast across Canada, including at Parliament in Ottawa, and vigils were scheduled in several Canadian cities.

The flight was a popular transit route for Canadians traveling to Iran, in the absence of direct flights, and carried many students and academics heading home from the holidays.

'Everyone has been crying'
University of Alberta president David Turpin said at least 10 members of the university community had died, including students, faculty and alumni.

"This is a grave loss," he told reporters.

"Words simply cannot express the grief that we are feeling on campus."

Among the victims was Mojgan Daneshmand, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Alberta, "a brilliant, brilliant lady, very smart," Mr Akbari said.

Her husband, Pedram Mousavi, a professor of mechanical engineering at the same college, and the couple's two daughters, also died in the crash.

Mr Mousavi was "like a father", student Hossein Saghlatoon told Reuters.

The pair had travelled to Iran with daughters Daria and Dorina, aged 14 and 10, to visit elderly parents, Mr Saghlatoon said.

"Everyone has been crying since last night," Mr Saghlatoon said.

"It's a huge loss and the void is not going to be filled by anyone or anything."

A dentistry in Aurora, Ontario confirmed Parisa Eghbalian, a dentist, and her daughter Reera Esmaeilion, 9, died. Ms Eghbalian's husband, Hamed Esmaeilion, is also a dentist at E&E Dentistry, but was not travelling with his wife and child.

The Toronto District School Board said a number of students and their family members had been killed in the crash, while the school board for York region, north of Toronto, said its schools had been "directly affected".

Mr Champagne posted on Twitter: "Our hearts are with the loved ones of the victims, including many Canadians."

Opposition Leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted: "There are no words. 176 lives lost. 63 Canadians won't be coming home.

"These families deserve clear answers, but whatever the case, this is devastating."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01...r-63-canadians-killed-in-plane-crash/11854308

 

[MenInG]

A plane that crashed in Iran with 176 people on board was trying to return to the airport when it crashed, Iranian investigators have said.

The Boeing 737-800 went down just minutes after taking off from Tehran's airport, leaving no survivors.

An initial probe found the aircraft experienced a problem as it was leaving the airport zone, and was "on fire".

Earlier, Iran said it would not hand over the recovered black box flight recorders to Boeing or to the US.

Under global aviation rules Iran has the right to lead the investigation, but manufacturers are typically involved.

The crash came at a time of high tensions between Iran and the US - just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two air bases housing US forces in Iraq. However there is no evidence the two events are linked.

Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh said: "The plane, which was initially headed west to leave the airport zone, turned right following a problem and was headed back to the airport at the moment of the crash."

Mr Abedzadeh added that witnesses saw the plane "on fire" before the crash, and that pilots hadn't made any distress calls before trying to return to Imam Khomeini airport.

He said the initial findings had been sent to Ukraine and the US, where Boeing is headquartered. Sweden and Canada had also been sent the findings, as their nationals were on board, he added.

Ukraine has declared 9 January a day of national mourning.

Spoiler

Who is investigating the crash?
Normally, the US National Transportation Safety Board would have a role to play in any international investigations involving US-made Boeings. But the board must act with permission and in accordance with legislation of the foreign country concerned.

In comments published by Iran's conservative Mehr news agency, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO), Ali Abedzadeh, said: "We will not give the black box to the manufacturer and the Americans."

"This accident will be investigated by Iran's aviation organisation but the Ukrainians can also be present," he added.

Mr Abedzadeh said it was not yet clear which country would analyse the black boxes - a cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised statement that "a thorough and independent investigation will be conducted in accordance with international law", and that he would speak to Iranian leaders to step up cooperation in investigating the crash.

Boeing said it was "ready to assist in any way needed", while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country expected to have a role in the investigation and had offered technical assistance.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51044996

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Ask the same from the other experts who already declared the accident caused by a mechanical failure.

U mean the FAA experts who clearly said it probably was a mechanical failure?

 

[MenInG]

MOSCOW — Ukrainian investigators considered the possibility that an antiaircraft missile might have hit a passenger jet that crashed near Tehran, killing all 176 aboard, as an initial report released Thursday by Iran said the plane was on fire while still in the air.

The preliminary Iranian investigation cited witness accounts that the plane was burning and noted that the Kyiv-bound flight was turning back toward Tehran’s airport because of a “problem” when it went down Wednesday.

Ukrainian investigators said they were also considering engine failure or a terrorist attack as possible causes of the crash.

The Ukraine International Airlines flight departed Tehran at 6:12 a.m. on Wednesday and was approaching 8,000 feet when it abruptly lost contact with ground control, officials said.

The report from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said witnesses — on the ground and among the crew of another flight in the vicinity — reported seeing a fire while the Boeing 737 800jet was still in the air, followed by an explosion when it slammed into a field near an amusement park.

Spoiler

A video from a closed-circuit television camera posted on Twitter by Iran’s state broadcaster showed the predawn darkness suddenly lit in a fiery orange glow and then flaming debris scattering over a wide area.

“The trajectory of the collision indicated that the plane was initially moving toward the west, but after encountering a problem, it turned to the right and was approaching the airport again at the time of the crash,” Ali Abedzadeh, head of the Civil Aviation Organization, said in the report.

A Ukrainian plane with 45 experts and search-and-rescue personnel arrived in Tehran early Thursday to participate in the investigation, as well as to identify and repatriate the bodies of the 11 Ukrainians on board, including all nine crew members.

Oleksiy Danylov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, wrote on Facebook that his team wants to search for possible debris of a Russian missile, the Tor air defense missile, after seeing online reports about the discovery of possible fragments of one near the crash site.

He added that Ukraine’s commission includes specialists who helped investigate the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Ukraine. The government in Keiv has also suspended all Ukrainian flights over Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

The passengers on the plane were mostly Iranians but also included Europeans and more than 60 Canadian citizens. Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that 138 of those onboard were en route to Toronto. He promised that the crash would be “thoroughly investigated.”

“Canadians have questions, and they deserve answers,” he told reporters Wednesday in Ottawa.

Asked if he could “categorically” rule out that the plane was not shot down, Trudeau said that he could not, adding that it is too early to speculate on possible causes.

Under standards outlined in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Annex 13, the country where a crash occurs leads the investigation and is responsible for releasing information related to the incident. Officials in other countries may be included to offer technical and investigative support.

Because Boeing jets are manufactured and certified in the United States, U.S. safety officials have the right to participate in the crash investigation under international rules. However, because of sanctions imposed on Iran, there are additional challenges. Government agencies, including the National Transportation Safety Board, must secure a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control to be permitted to travel to the country. Experts say securing that license is a complicated process that can take months or even years.

176 people died in the Ukrainian plane crash in Iran. Here are some of their stories.

Several U.S.-based aviation experts have expressed skepticism that a technical malfunction brought down the plane, as Iranian officials suggested in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Iran, however, has strongly rejected speculation that a missile might have hit the plane.

Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for the armed forces, described that chatter to Iran’s Mehr news agency as American “psychological warfare,” as well as “ridiculous” and an “utter lie.”

“Most of the passengers on this plane were invaluable Iranian youth; everything we do is aimed at defending our people’s and country’s security,” Shekarchi said.

About four hours before the crash, Iranian forces launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles into Iraq, targeting an Iraqi air base with U.S. personnel and a facility in the northern city of Irbil in response to an American airstrike last week that killed the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

American passenger airliners had been told not to fly over Iran because of the risk that they could be mistaken for military aircraft. Several other major airlines followed suit Wednesday.

“To me it has all the earmarks of an intentional act,” Guzzetti told The Washington Post. “I don’t know whether it was a bomb or a missile or an incendiary device. I just know airplanes don’t come apart like that.”

After the Boeing crash near Tehran, who will investigate?

Marc Garneau, Canada’s transport minister, said satellite data suggests that the aircraft had a “standard departure” and then lost contact with officials soon after, indicating that “something very unusual happened.”

Garneau, a former astronaut, said Canada is willing to assist with black box analysis, if asked.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...27434c-3244-11ea-971b-43bec3ff9860_story.html

 

[MenInG]

The Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday was accidentally shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile, western security officials believe.

UK sources told the Guardian that the UK had seen US intelligence that suggested that the plane was hit by an Iranian air defence missile.

Separately, officials told US media they had identified the signature from an Iranian anti-aircraft missile battery being activated shortly before the aircraft crashed into countryside south-west of the Iranian capital, killing all on 176 on board. The officials also said they had identified the infrared signature from two suspected missile launches followed shortly afterwards by the infra red blip from the burning and fatally disabled aircraft.

Suspicions that the aircraft may have accidentally been shot down had grown throughout Thursday. A private intelligence firm concluded it was likely hit by a surface-to-air missile, and two US media outlets reported that government sources had made the same assessment.

Spoiler

The London-based firm IHS Markit said in a memo it assessed that Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 was “likely to have been shot down mistakenly by a IRGC-operated SA-15 missile”. It cited images circulating on social media showing a Russian-made missile that was purportedly photographed near the site of the crash. It could not confirm the authenticity of the image but said it assessed it to be credible.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, cited the same images of missile debris. “Our commission is currently agreeing with the Iranian authorities to travel to the place of the crash, and plans to search for debris of a Russian surface-to-air Tor missile, according to information which was published on the internet,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Some members of the investigative team had been involved in the probe into the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine by Russian-armed rebels, Danilov added. “We will use all our best practices from investigating the attack on MH17 to find out the truth in the case of the Ukrainian plane in Tehran,” he said.

The US magazine Newsweek and CBS News also quoted intelligence sources claiming the jet had been shot down.

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for a full investigation following a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Downing Street said.

In the phone call, Johnson offered his condolences, offered UK support and was updated on the crash, a No 10 spokesman said. “The prime minister said that there needed to be a full, credible and transparent investigation into what happened.”

Asked whether this meant the UK was concerned about the possible cause of the crash, he said: “I’m not going to speculate on this, but the reports we have seen are very concerning, and we’re urgently looking into them.”

On Thursday morning Zelenskiy had said that his government was considering “several possibilities” but asked people to refrain from speculating. Iranian authorities have blamed mechanical issues, which they said happened shortly after the plane left Tehran’s main airport at 6.13am on Wednesday.

The timing of the disaster, a few hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at US forces stationed in Iraq in retaliation for its assassination of general Qassem Suleimani, has fuelled speculation that it might have somehow been linked to the hostilities.

An engine lies on the ground after Wednesday’s plane crash.
FacebookTwitterPinterest
An engine lies on the ground after Wednesday’s plane crash. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
Advertisement

Witnesses to the crash on the ground and from passing aircraft said they saw the jet burst into flames while still in the air, according to a preliminary Iranian report, which stated technical problems were the most likely reason.

It confirmed that both the aircraft’s black boxes had been recovered, giving investigators access to data and cockpit communications, though some parts of their memory had been damaged in the crash.

Iran’s aviation authority said on Wednesday it would not hand over flight recorders either to the aircraft’s American manufacturer or to US aviation authorities, but that it would give Ukrainian investigators access to the investigation.

But the head of the authority, Ali Abedzadeh, appeared to backtrack on Thursday, saying claims in the Iranian media that the black boxes would not be sent overseas were “a mistake taken by the reporter”.

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian officials arrived in Tehran early on Thursday and that he would speak to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, to ensure close cooperation.

The plane was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several countries, including 82 Iranians, at least 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians and three Britons.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...tern-officials-believe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[dildilpak]

The Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday was accidentally shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile, western security officials believe.

UK sources told the Guardian that the UK had seen US intelligence that suggested that the plane was hit by an Iranian air defence missile.

Separately, officials told US media they had identified the signature from an Iranian anti-aircraft missile battery being activated shortly before the aircraft crashed into countryside south-west of the Iranian capital, killing all on 176 on board. The officials also said they had identified the infrared signature from two suspected missile launches followed shortly afterwards by the infra red blip from the burning and fatally disabled aircraft.

Suspicions that the aircraft may have accidentally been shot down had grown throughout Thursday. A private intelligence firm concluded it was likely hit by a surface-to-air missile, and two US media outlets reported that government sources had made the same assessment.

Spoiler

The London-based firm IHS Markit said in a memo it assessed that Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 was “likely to have been shot down mistakenly by a IRGC-operated SA-15 missile”. It cited images circulating on social media showing a Russian-made missile that was purportedly photographed near the site of the crash. It could not confirm the authenticity of the image but said it assessed it to be credible.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, cited the same images of missile debris. “Our commission is currently agreeing with the Iranian authorities to travel to the place of the crash, and plans to search for debris of a Russian surface-to-air Tor missile, according to information which was published on the internet,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Some members of the investigative team had been involved in the probe into the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine by Russian-armed rebels, Danilov added. “We will use all our best practices from investigating the attack on MH17 to find out the truth in the case of the Ukrainian plane in Tehran,” he said.

The US magazine Newsweek and CBS News also quoted intelligence sources claiming the jet had been shot down.

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for a full investigation following a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Downing Street said.

In the phone call, Johnson offered his condolences, offered UK support and was updated on the crash, a No 10 spokesman said. “The prime minister said that there needed to be a full, credible and transparent investigation into what happened.”

Asked whether this meant the UK was concerned about the possible cause of the crash, he said: “I’m not going to speculate on this, but the reports we have seen are very concerning, and we’re urgently looking into them.”

On Thursday morning Zelenskiy had said that his government was considering “several possibilities” but asked people to refrain from speculating. Iranian authorities have blamed mechanical issues, which they said happened shortly after the plane left Tehran’s main airport at 6.13am on Wednesday.

The timing of the disaster, a few hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at US forces stationed in Iraq in retaliation for its assassination of general Qassem Suleimani, has fuelled speculation that it might have somehow been linked to the hostilities.

An engine lies on the ground after Wednesday’s plane crash.
FacebookTwitterPinterest
An engine lies on the ground after Wednesday’s plane crash. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
Advertisement

Witnesses to the crash on the ground and from passing aircraft said they saw the jet burst into flames while still in the air, according to a preliminary Iranian report, which stated technical problems were the most likely reason.

It confirmed that both the aircraft’s black boxes had been recovered, giving investigators access to data and cockpit communications, though some parts of their memory had been damaged in the crash.

Iran’s aviation authority said on Wednesday it would not hand over flight recorders either to the aircraft’s American manufacturer or to US aviation authorities, but that it would give Ukrainian investigators access to the investigation.

But the head of the authority, Ali Abedzadeh, appeared to backtrack on Thursday, saying claims in the Iranian media that the black boxes would not be sent overseas were “a mistake taken by the reporter”.

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian officials arrived in Tehran early on Thursday and that he would speak to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, to ensure close cooperation.

The plane was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several countries, including 82 Iranians, at least 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians and three Britons.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...tern-officials-believe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

That was a Ukrainian aircraft! Iran will be sued big time by everybody because of their stupid mistake, if their guilt is proved.

 

[msaaim89]

Who needs an investigation when we already have armchair experts already concluding Iran shot down the jet ?

Thank you.


[MENTION=161]161[/MENTION] Are you just copying and pasting what random people are saying or do you have actually have materials / weapon systems expertise?

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Canadian PM Trudeau confirms that there is intelligence from “multiple sources,” that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. “This may have well been unintentional.”</p>— Michelle Shephard (@shephardm) <a href="https://twitter.com/shephardm/status/1215358797277016064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[JaDed]

Canadian PM.. now with beard what’s he gonna do? Make a case and run it for 30 years?
Anyhow not sure how the families feel after such a tragedy..

 

[Markhor]

Ask the same from the other experts who already declared the accident caused by a mechanical failure.

Oh I agree, we should let the investigation play out before playing judge, jury and executioner.

 

[ShahKhan007]

An Iranian missile shot down Ukrainian jet, Trudeau says

OTTAWA—The Ukraine International Airlines flight that crashed soon after takeoff from Tehran this week was on fire and appeared to be turning back to the airport before it hit the ground, according to a preliminary report, and Ukrainian officials are considering the possibility that the plane was downed by a hostile act.

The crew of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, bound for Kyiv, made no distress call before Iranian air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane while it was still in the air, according to the report by Iran’s civil aviation organization.

All 176 people on board the Boeing 737-800 NG were killed in the crash, including 138 who were headed onward to Canada.

The abrupt loss of communications suggests something catastrophic and sudden happened to the aircraft.

“According to witnesses … a fire appeared on the aircraft which was intensifying, then impacted the ground causing an explosion,” the Iranian report said.

The jet was initially headed west “but turned right following a technical report and had a track showing returning to the airport,” the report said.

U.S. President Donald Trump also raised the possibility that plane was inadvertently brought down as he raised doubts that the crash was caused by a mechanical problem.

“Someone could have made a mistake on the other side … it has nothing to do with us,” Trump said Thursday. “It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake.

“Some people say it’s mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s even a question personally,” he said.

Asked whether it may have been shot down by accident, Trump said, “I really don’t know.”

The preliminary report states that officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada were notified about the accident under international aviation protocols and suggested Canada would have a role to play in the probe. “The investigation team would like to invite all the states involved in the accident to participate in the investigation process,” the report stated.

Ukraine’s national security and defence council chief, Oleksiy Danilov, said several scenarios are being considered, including the possibility that the plane was struck by an anti-aircraft missile.

Other theories include a collision with a drone “or other flying object,” an explosive failure of an engine and an explosion inside the plane “as a result of terrorist act,” Danilov said in a Facebook post.

The crash came soon after Iran had fired missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. and coalition troops, raising fears that a hostile act may have caused the crash of the Ukrainian jet.

Danilov said that the investigation will include specialists who took part in the probe of the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777 which was downed by a Russian missile as it flew through Ukrainian airspace in 2014.

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the speculation about a hostile act underscores the need for a proper investigation.

“We would really need to get the details on what were the circumstances,” Paris said.

Make sense of what's happening across the country and around the world with the Star's This Week in Politics email newsletter.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/fe...o-ukrainian-airlines-crash-investigation.html

 

[ShahKhan007]

Wonder what would have happened if an American was in the plane. This spineless Canadian government will probably sit back and do nothing despite 63 Canadians being murdered in cold blood.

 

[ShahKhan007]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/czTZ854e0ZU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[cric_man]

Wonder what would have happened if an American was in the plane. This spineless Canadian government will probably sit back and do nothing despite 63 Canadians being murdered in cold blood.

What do you want Canada to do? Bomb or Invade Iran?

Canada is Canada and USA is USA....

 

[Pakistanian]

Wonder what would have happened if an American was in the plane. This spineless Canadian government will probably sit back and do nothing despite 63 Canadians being murdered in cold blood.

Most of those Canadians were Iranian descent, conservatives don't care.

 

[Pakistanian]

If Iran really did shoot down the plane they're really dumb. That shows they don't have skills or warcraft to fight a war, they literally panicked and shot down a plane carrying many iranians. They committed fratricide like the indians did in february. Heck iran couldn't inflict any damage on their actual target despite raining down 20+ missiles. What a failure of an army. Pakistan is so much better.

 

[JaDed]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/video/iran-plane-missile.amp.html

The New York Times has obtained video that shows the moment a Ukrainian airliner was hit minutes after takeoff from Tehran. Video verified by The New York Times appears to show an Iranian missile hitting a plane above Parand, near Tehran’s airport, the area where a Ukrainian airliner stopped transmitting its signal before it crashed on Wednesday.

A small explosion occurred when a missile hit the plane, but the plane did not explode, the video showed. The jet continued flying for several minutes and turned back toward the airport, The Times has determined. The plane flew toward the airport ablaze before it exploded and crashed quickly, other videos verified by The Times showed.

This is a developing story. Check back for a detailed breakdown of the video.

——

sharing the link coz its NY times ..

 

[Pakistanian]

How tf do you accidentally shoot down a large commercial jet IN YOUR capital and largest city several miles from any border?! What a third world cesspool.

 

[JaDed]

Most of those Canadians were Iranian descent, conservatives don't care.

Even when they were White Canadians , Canadian govn didn’t care -Air India blast. Case ran for 20 years and they erased the proof.

 

[Ronaldo7]

How tf do you accidentally shoot down a large commercial jet IN YOUR capital and largest city several miles from any border?! What a third world cesspool.

Just like how America shot down Iran's aeroplane in 1988

 

[JaDed]

Just like how America shot down Iran's aeroplane in 1988

Not in their airspace though still atrocious and cruel , not to forget the coverage by US media was pathetic.

 

[cric_man]

Even when they were White Canadians , Canadian govn didn’t care -Air India blast. Case ran for 20 years and they erased the proof.

Malaysian MH17 has mostly dutch citizens onboard when it was shot down over Ukraine. Dutch or any other european government has been able to do squat against Russia.

 

[The_Odd_One]

U mean the FAA experts who clearly said it probably was a mechanical failure?

FAA has no credibility left after 737 Max accidents. I will take the opinion of their so-called experts with a grain of salt.

 

[The_Odd_One]

US shot down an Iranian airliner in the past, also not unreasonable to suggest they did something similar here.

That was cruel and Bush should have apologized

This said, Iran shot down the plane which took off from Tehran in their own flying zone. It shows nothing but incompetence of the Iranian military. What makes it worse is that they have not yet accepted the responsibility.

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Iranians have really shot themselves in the foot here. Aside from being a major tragedy this also a PR disaster.

 

[Sirris]

How tf do you accidentally shoot down a large commercial jet IN YOUR capital and largest city several miles from any border?! What a third world cesspool.

Yeah it makes no sense at all.

What were they thinking? An enemy aircraft suddenly popped up from nowhere right next to the international airport?

A friend of a friend was on that flight. RIP.

 

[Mamoon]

Considering their incompetence, it seems that they actually missed the U.S. targets and it wasn’t deliberate. They were probably trying to cover it up by making excuses.

Iran has lost credibility. Seems like another state that talks big but the end result is zero.

They need to get rid of their nuclear weapons before they end up nuking themselves.

 

[Robert]

Just like how America shot down Iran's aeroplane in 1988

That was a bit different as the airliner was heading toward the USS Vincennes which was engaged in combat with Iranian gunboats. The airliner was not broadcasting IFF messages and looked like a threat to the cruiser. That was either pilot error or a malfunction.

Still, 300 civilians died. At the very least the cruiser skipper should have received a dishonourable discharge from the service but I believe he is enjoying his pension.

 

[161]

Thank you.


[MENTION=161]161[/MENTION] Are you just copying and pasting what random people are saying or do you have actually have materials / weapon systems expertise?

Common sense ... remember how we closed off our airspace after India attacked ... it was to prevent an accidental shoot down like this.

The pictures show damage from a SAM warhead and now there is video of the SAM hitting the aircraft.

 

[161]

Just like how America shot down Iran's aeroplane in 1988

And America learned their lesson after that episode.

US policy from then on was to only shoot down an aircraft after it has been visually identified.

 

[andy0204]

Isko bolte hai apne pair par kulhadi maarna.
In English it means axing your own feet.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Considering their incompetence, it seems that they actually missed the U.S. targets and it wasn’t deliberate. They were probably trying to cover it up by making excuses.

Iran has lost credibility. Seems like another state that talks big but the end result is zero.

They need to get rid of their nuclear weapons before they end up nuking themselves.

You should look at the sat images before commenting on this.
They've directly hit a few of the structures in the base.
Many analysts are saying that they were very accurate with their missiles

 

[90MPH]

You should look at the sat images before commenting on this.
They've directly hit a few of the structures in the base.
Many analysts are saying that they were very accurate with their missiles

Mamoon is always talking from his backside half the time.

Firstly they have no nuclear weapons and are not even close to attaining one because of the sanctions and the deal they made a few years ago in which Trump decided to shred up for no reason other than trying to get one over his predecessor.

And even if they started the nuclear process to get a bomb there are too many obstacles like the harsh sanctions it would take them a very long time to attain one.

As for the ballistic missile strikes they were accurate - they did hit but you have to remember theses bases are massive and they only fired a dozen. If they wanted to fire many more they could have done and caused substantial damage.

Lastly the Plane going down had nothing to do with these ballistic missiles - if it was shot down it was because an Iranian anti aircraft battery locked onto it and accidentally mistook it for a military plane.

Something catastrophic did happen because the plane was on fire before it went down.

 

[Minnowbasher]

Yeh bhi ho sakhta hai ke iss ke piche Russia ho.

Russia are strong allies with iran and have beef with Ukraine.



Jokes I highly doubt that, however it shows how easy it is to make a conspiracy theory that seems genuine.
Let's be real, iran shot this plane down due to their incompetence.

 

[MenInG]

Iran urged the United States on Friday to wait for the results of the investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian airliner and dismissed as "a big lie" allegations coming from US officials that missiles downed the plane, Iranian state media reported, quoting a government spokesman.

"No one will assume responsibility for such a big lie once it is known that the claim had been fraudulent," government spokesperson Ali Rabiei said in a statement, according to state-run Press TV.

"It is unfortunate that the psychological operation of the US government, and those supporting it knowingly and unknowingly, are adding insult to the injury of the bereaved families and victimizing them for certain goals by propagating such fallacies," he added.

Rabiei said according to international rules, the aviation organization of the country where the incident occurred (Iran), the aviation organization of the country that issued qualification for the flight (Ukraine), the owner of the plane (Ukraine), the factory builder of the plane (Boeing) and the factory builder of the engine of the plane (France) can take part in the investigation of the incident.

A delegation from Ukraine is already in Iran, Rabiei said. "We also welcome the participation of all countries which have lost their nationals in the mishap," he added.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Thursday night, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Ali Abedzadeh also rejected as "illogical rumors" reports that the Ukrainian plane that crashed south of the capital Tehran on Wednesday was hit by missiles.

CNN reported earlier Thursday that the US increasingly believes Iran mistakenly shot down the airliner, according to multiple US officials. The working theory is based on continuing analysis of data from satellites, radar and electronic data collected routinely by US military and intelligence.

https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/...01-10-2020/h_cf0cb42201d935fc7d6fc6747d1b2217

 

[AdamM97]

Considering their incompetence, it seems that they actually missed the U.S. targets and it wasn’t deliberate. They were probably trying to cover it up by making excuses.

Iran has lost credibility. Seems like another state that talks big but the end result is zero.

They need to get rid of their nuclear weapons before they end up nuking themselves.

Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.

 

[AdamM97]

Iran shot it down, let’s get real.

Probably mistook it for an American warplane or something.

 

[90MPH]

Iran shot it down, let’s get real.

Probably mistook it for an American warplane or something.

Very likely it was shot down.

I don’t know why the plane was allowed to take off in the first place when all other planes didn’t go into the area.

It was definitely unintentional but obviously a tragic one that was avoidable that started because of the assassination.

 

[Mamoon]

Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.

France thinks they will have nuclear weapons ready in a year’s time.

 

[AdamM97]

France thinks they will have nuclear weapons ready in a year’s time.

And they will, unless the Europeans manage to convince Trump to restore the old nuclear deal with Iran and lift the sanctions.

 

[MenInG]

Would be interesting to know a few things

1. When did the missile strikes from Iran end
2. When was Iranian airspace opened in that region - am guessing must have been closed for missile launches
3. Was this the first flight after missiles were launched etc

 

[The Viper]

Iran plane crash: 'More time needed for investigation' - Ukraine

Spoiler

It is too soon to draw any conclusions on what brought down a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran on Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign minister has said.

"We have so many different versions of what could [have] happened to the plane that we need some time to really understand," Vadym Prystaiko said.

His comments come a day after Western powers said they had strong evidence that the plane was hit by an Iranian missile - a claim rejected by Tehran.

All 176 people on board were killed.
The crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 near Tehran airport came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.

US media have speculated that the Boeing 737-800 may have been mistaken for a warplane as Iran prepared for possible American retaliation.

Footage has emerged purportedly showing a plane being hit by a projectile over the Iranian capital.

Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians as well as nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany.

Iran has promised a full investigation. However, TV images from the crash site on Thursday showed a mechanical digger helping to clear debris away, raising concerns that important evidence could have been removed.

Meanwhile, the so-called "black box" recovered from the wreckage will be opened on Friday, Iran's official Irna news agency reported.

Black boxes contain the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, and could provide vital clues about what caused the crash.

What does Ukraine say?

At Friday's news briefing in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Mr Prystaiko reiterated that at this stage Ukrainian investigators were not ruling out any possible cause of the crash.

But he called for the "level of speculation" to be reduced, adding that Ukraine wanted to establish an "international coalition" to conduct a thorough investigation.

Mr Prystaiko said nearly 50 Ukrainian investigators were already working in Iran, and there was "full co-operation" from Tehran.

"We are analysing pieces of the body of the plane, we are analysing the bodies of the people who died in the crash.

"We are analysing the chemical residues on the body of the plane. We will come to our conclusion, we don't want to come to them right now.

"Our team has now got access to the black boxes," he said, stressing that Ukraine wanted them to be analysed in Kyiv.
Iran earlier said it would download the information itself, adding that the process could take up to two months.

Kyiv earlier said the US had passed on "important data" about the crash, without providing any further details.

Ukraine's team in Iran includes experts who worked on the investigation into the 2014 downing by a missile of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine.

What does Iran say?

Earlier on Friday, Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh repeated his view that a missile was not the cause of the crash.

"The thing that is clear to us and that we can say with certainty is that this plane was not hit by a missile," he told reporters.

On Thursday, government spokesman Ali Rabiei accused the US and its allies of "lying and engaging in psychological warfare" in their speculation over the cause of the accident.

An Iranian official told the BBC on Friday that there was documentation to prove that the plane had a mechanical issue before take-off. It was not signed off for flying, but Ukrainian airline officials had overruled these objections, the official said, without giving further details.

What has been said about a possible missile strike?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had received intelligence from multiple sources indicating the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, adding that it was possible that this was unintentional.

"This reinforces the need for a thorough investigation," he said. "Canadians have questions and they deserve answers."

But he said it was too early to apportion blame or draw any conclusions, and refused to go into detail about the evidence.

The Ukrainian flight was headed to the Canadian city of Toronto via Kyiv.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Mr Trudeau's words and said Britain was working closely with Canada and other international partners affected by the crash.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said British nationals were advised not to travel to Iran, "given the body of information that UIA Flight 752 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, and the heightened tensions".

Newsweek quoted a Pentagon and senior US intelligence officials, as well as an Iraqi intelligence official, as saying they believed flight PS752 was hit by a Russian-made Tor missile.

Video obtained by the New York Times appeared to show a missile streaking across the night sky over Tehran and then exploding on contact with a plane. About 10 seconds later, a loud explosion is heard on the ground.

What about the investigation?

Iran initially said it would not hand over the recovered "black boxes" to Boeing, the plane's manufacturer, or to the US.

This followed the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone attack on 3 January and the subsequent strikes against US bases in Iraq on Wednesday.

However, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later confirmed it had been invited to take part in the investigation and would send a representative.

Boeing said it would support the NTSB in the inquiry, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it had also been invited to the accident site by Tehran.

France's BEA air accident agency said on Friday it had also been invited to take part in the investigation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51067545

 

[Pakistanian]

So according to western sources Iran has admitted to accidentally shooting the plane

https://time.com/5761206/iran-plane-crash/

Also they've allegedly bulldozed the crash site which is a really dumb move if true, this is just disrespectful to the dead and their families and also just makes everything really sus.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6393185/iran-plane-crash-site-investigation/

 

[Mamoon]

So Iran has finally admitted that they goofed up.

Iran's military says it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, Iran's state TV reports.

The statement said it had done so due to "human error" after the plane flew close to a sensitive site belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Those responsible would be held accountable, the statement said.

Iran had previously rejected suggestions that one of its missiles brought down the plane near the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.

But pressure mounted after the US and Canada, citing intelligence, said they believed Iran had shot down the plane with a missile, possibly accidently.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51073621

A moment of silence for all the Iranian defenders in this thread who called it fake news.

 

[Slim]

Just coming here from Al jazeera, this is going to have massive consequences. Iran is full of idiots and jahils. These fundoos will deserve whats coming for them. They ruined the life of hundreds of families in one go.

 

[Pakistanian]

Everybody involved should be punished for manslaughter and Iran should compensate all of the victims. When the US shot down the Iranian airplane in the 80s they paid ~ $62 million in compensation which amounted to over $200,000 per victim or > $450,000 in 2020 dollars (adjusted for inflation).

 

[Hitman]

You don't shoot down a plane killing 176 people on board because you're incompetent. There'll be severe consequences.

What a bunch of complete idiots!