A Ukrainian airliner, which crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran with the loss of all 176 people on board, had turned back after experiencing a problem, Iranian authorities 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," the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation said on its website late Wednesday.
"The plane disappeared from radar screens the moment it reached 8,000 feet (2,400 metres). The pilot sent no radio message about the unusual circumstances.
"According to eyewitnesses, a fire was seen on board the plane which grew in intensity," the organisation added, reporting the first findings of its investigation into Wednesday's crash.
The organisation said it had questioned witnesses both on the ground and on board a second aircraft which was flying above the Ukrainian Boeing 737 as the disaster unfolded.
Iranian experts begin their investigation into why a Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran with the loss of all 176 people on board
Tehran insisted it will not hand the flight data recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines airliner back to plane-maker Boeing or the United States.
Speaking yesterday to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority, Ali Abedzadeh said the black boxes would be analyzed in the country where the accident took place, in accordance with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) rules.
Ukrainian investigators would be a part of the process, he added.
But Abedzadeh did rule out involving the US in any stage of the investigation. "We will not give the black box to the manufacturer [Boeing] or America,” he said.
Without speaking at length about the accident, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority revealed that the pilot did not communicate any problems to the air traffic control, but said it was still too early to tell what had caused the crash then.
"The cause of the accident will not be discovered or announced until the black box is analyzed," he added.
Analyst said under international rules, the investigation into an air crash is held by the state of occurrence (i.e. where it happened.)
Iran is the state of occurrence in this case, as the plane crashed minutes after takeoff from Tehran.
Ukraine, as the state of registry and state of operator, will participate.
The United States, as state of design and manufacture of the aircraft, will also take part on behalf of Boeing.
All 176 people on board a Ukrainian passenger plane were killed when it crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Prystaiko said after Wednesday’s crash that there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board. The Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and nine crew members.
He confirmed that Iranian, Canadian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Afghan, British and German nationals were killed in the Ukrainian plane crash just outside Tehran.
According to him, 10 Swedish nationals, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals.
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