Technical problems — not missiles — may have downed Ukrainian airliner in Iran, say some intel experts
All 176 people on board died.
The Ukrainian airliner that went down just after liftoff in Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, probably suffered a technical malfunction and was not brought down by a missile -- that's what various Western intelligence sources are now saying.
The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 dropped from about 8,000 feet to earth in a fireball shortly after take-off from Tehran.
No investigation has been conducted yet, though -- and Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran's civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
Many questions remain.
From Reuters:
The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800, en route to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed hours after Iran fired missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, leading some to speculate that the plane may have been hit.
But five security sources - three Americans, one European and one Canadian - who asked not to be named, told Reuters the initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies was that the plane had suffered a technical malfunction and had not been brought down by a missile. There was evidence one of the jet's engines had overheated, the Canadian source said.
"We are in contact with our airline customers and stand by them in this difficult time. We are ready to assist in any way needed," Boeing said in a statement earlier Wednesday, declining further comment. Its shares fell 1.1% today.
The plane that crashed was a three-year-old Boeing 737-800NG.
It had just received scheduled maintenance on January 6, according to Ukraine International Airlines.
More: Technical problems behind deadly crash of Boeing jet in Iran: security sources
Various observations below. Again, no official known cause at this time -- everyone is speculating, some are better at it than others.
Garneau says Canada offering Ukrainian all technical assistance needed to help investigation. Canada's Transport Safety Board also willing to help if Iran and Ukraine want help. He says Iranians are leading the investigation because crash happened on their soil.
- Alex Ballingall (@aballinga) January 8, 2020
.@UN chief @antonioguterres was "deeply saddened by the crash" of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran on Wednesday and in a statement offered his deepest condolences.https://t.co/9oZViW58Cr
- UN News (@UN_News_Centre) January 8, 2020
Initial assessment of Western intel according to a Canadian source: Ukrainian Boeing not brought down by a missile. Would be interesting to see if the 9M331 pic can be geolocated. https://t.co/UxIl7Q2dsy
- Bjirn Stritzel (@bjoernstritzel) January 8, 2020
Transport Minister Marc Garneau on the Ukrainian airlines crash: Satellite data suggests takeoff was normal, but then "we lost contact with it, suggesting that something very unusual happened, but we cannot speculate at this point." #PS752
- Alicja Siekierska (@alicjawithaj) January 8, 2020
"[They] all had so much potential, so much life ahead of them"
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau pays tribute to the 63 Canadians killed following the crash of a Ukraine-bound flight which went down minutes after taking off from Iranhttps://t.co/7vNbiuE9kx pic.twitter.com/dN7gsQX8wx
- BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 8, 2020
PHOTO by LLBG Spotter, Ukraine International Airlines B738, UR-PSR, TLV. CC BY-SA 2.0