The Iranian report suggests a sudden emergency struck the Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when it crashed, just minutes after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran. It was the first fatal crash of the country's largest carrier, Ukraine International Airlines.
Investigators from Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation offered no immediate explanation for the disaster, however.
Ukraine, meanwhile, said it considered a missile strike or terrorism as possible theories for the crash, despite Iran's denials.
Iranian officials initially blamed a technical malfunction for the crash, something initially backed by Ukrainian officials before they said they wouldn't speculate amid an ongoing investigation.
The crash came just a few hours after Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
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launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing US troops amid a confrontation with Washington over it killing an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general in a dronezap last week.
The Ukrainian International Airlines took off at 6:12am on Wednesday, after nearly an hour's delay at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, the main airport for travellers in Iran. It gained altitude heading west, reaching nearly 8,000 feet, according to both the report and flight-tracking data.
Then something went wrong, though no radio messages were received from the pilot regarding unusual situations, the report said. In emergencies, pilots typically immediately contact air-traffic controllers.
Eyewitnesses, including the crew of another flight passing above it, described seeing the plane engulfed in flames before crashing at 6:18am, the report said.
The crash caused a massive explosion when the plane hit the ground, likely because the aircraft had been fully loaded with fuel for the flight to Kyiv, Ukraine.
The report also confirmed that both of the so-called black boxes that contain data and cockpit communications from the plane had been recovered, though they sustained damage and some parts of their memory was lost.
It also said that Sherlocks have initially ruled out laser or electromagnetic interference as causing the crash.
Related:
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2019-01-06 Iran raps British FM's 'meddlesome' remarks on Zaghari's case
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2018-06-10 IRGC uses US-made aircraft to travel to Syria for short period of time
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2018-02-03 Major snowstorm in Tehran, Iran (was in late January)
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2019-01-06 Iran raps British FM's 'meddlesome' remarks on Zaghari's case
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2018-06-10 IRGC uses US-made aircraft to travel to Syria for short period of time
Imam Khomeini International Airport: 2018-02-03 Major snowstorm in Tehran, Iran (was in late January)