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Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752

Coordinates: 35°33′40″N 51°06′14″E / 35.56111°N 51.10389°E / 35.56111; 51.10389
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Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
UR-PSR, the incident aircraft, photographed during takeoff in October 2019
(Under Investigation)
Date8 January 2020 (2020-01-08)
SummaryCrashed shortly after takeoff, under investigation
SiteNear Shahriar, Tehran Province, Iran[1]
35°33′40″N 51°06′14″E / 35.56111°N 51.10389°E / 35.56111; 51.10389
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-800
OperatorUkraine International Airlines
IATA flight No.PS752
ICAO flight No.AUI752
Call signUKRAINE INTERNATIONAL 752
RegistrationUR-PSR
Flight originTehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran
DestinationBoryspil International Airport, Kiev
Passengers167
Crew9
Fatalities176 (all)[2]
Survivors0

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kiev, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, the aircraft operating this route (a Boeing 737–800) crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport.[3][4] All 176 passengers and crew were killed, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in Iran in more than a decade. The crash surpassed Air India Express Flight 812 as the deadliest incident involving the Boeing 737-800 and was the second deadliest involving the Boeing 737 series after Lion Air Flight 610. The crash was the first fatal aviation incident for Ukraine International Airlines since the start of its operation in 1992.[5]

Flight and crash

Crash site is located in Iran
Crash site
Crash site
class=notpageimage|
Approximate location of the crash site

The flight was operated by Ukraine International Airlines, the flag carrier and the largest airline of Ukraine, on a scheduled flight from Iranian capital Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport to Boryspil International Airport in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Emergency officials confirmed that the plane was carrying 176 people on board, including 9 crew members. 15 of the passengers were children. [6]

Flight 752 was scheduled to take off at 05:15 local time (UTC+3:30), however, it was delayed by approximately an hour. The flight departed Stand 116 and took off from Runway 29R at 06:12 local time and was expected to land in Kiev at 08:00 local time (UTC+2:00).[7][2] The final ADS-B data received was at 06:14, less than 3 minutes after departure. According to the data, the last recorded altitude was at 7,925 feet (2,416 m) above mean sea level with a groundspeed of 275 knots (509 km/h).[8][9] The airport itself is 3,305 feet (1,007 m) above mean sea level, which would give an altitude of 4,620 feet (1,410 m) above ground level. The flight was climbing when the altitude record abruptly ended.[8][10] The aircraft crashed into terrain located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi; 8.1 nmi) north of the airport. A video, circulated on social media, purportedly shows the moment of the crash. The video suggested that the plane was on fire when it began to dive, with some of its parts breaking up in mid-air.[11] It then crashed and exploded.[1] Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) did not confirm the authenticity of the video, but it did state that the plane was burning prior to the crash, leading to speculation of a possible shootdown.[12][13]

Shortly after the crash, emergency responders arrived with 22 ambulances, four bus ambulances, and a helicopter, but heavy fires prevented a rescue attempt. The wreckage was strewn over a wide area, with no survivors found at the crash site centered about 35°33′40″ N, 51°06′14″ E.[14] The plane was obliterated upon impact.[15]

Aircraft

Wreckage of Flight 752, with part of an engine in the foreground, showing nozzle guide vanes

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-8KV, serial number 38124, registration UR-PSR. It was three and a half years old at the time of the crash, having first flown on 21 June 2016.[1] It was delivered to the airline on 19 July 2016 and it was the first 737 Next Generation aircraft purchased by the airline.[16]

Passengers and crew

According to the spokesperson of Iran’s aviation organization, the exact number of people on board was 167 passengers and nine crew members. Iranian state media had initially reported that the plane was carrying 180 people. The ISNA stated that most of the passengers were Iranians, however, some foreign nationals were also on the flight.[13] Officials confirmed that at least 130 people on board were Iranian,[17] most of whom were returning to Canada via Ukraine, after the winter holiday.[18][19][20] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that 138 of the 167 passengers were travelling to Canada.[18]

Recovery operations of the victims of Flight 752

Ukrainian Kiev-based media outlet Obozrevatel reported that of the 167 passengers' citizenship, 82 were confirmed to be Iranian, 63 were Canadian, 3 were British, 4 were Afghans, 10 were Swedish and 3 were Germans. 11 Ukrainians were also reported to be onboard.[5] The apparent discrepancy in these reports is due to the fact that nearly half of the passengers were dual nationals, and Iran recognizes dual-nationals as Iranian citizens only. Those passengers had to use their Iranian passports when entering and exiting the country, therefore they are registered as Iranians with the Iranian border authorities. [21]

In addition to six flight attendants, the flight crew consisted of Captain Volodymyr Gaponenko (11,600 hours on Boeing 737 aircraft, including 5,500 hours as captain), instructor pilot Oleksiy Naumkin (12,000 hours on Boeing 737 aircraft, including 6,600 hours as captain), and first officer Serhii Khomenko (7,600 hours on Boeing 737 aircraft).[22]

Casualties[23]
Nationality(passport country of issuance) Passengers Crew Total
Iran 82 0 82
Canada 63 0 63
Ukraine 2 9 11
Sweden 10 0 10
Afghanistan 4 0 4
Germany 3 0 3
United Kingdom 3 0 3
Total 167 9 176

Aftermath

Reactions

The disaster occurred amid a heightened political crisis between the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf, happening just hours after the Iranian military launched 15 missiles towards U.S military airbases in Iraq in response to the Baghdad International Airport airstrike by the US on 3 January, which killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Al-Hadath, a Dubai-based news channel, wrote that anti-aircraft missiles had shot down the aircraft.[24] The ISNA and other Iranian state news agencies, however, reported that the plane had experienced technical difficulties.[25] In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that there should not be any speculation about the cause of the crash.[26]

Ukraine International Airlines said that flights to Tehran had been suspended indefinitely shortly after the incident, with flights after the day of the crash no longer available.[5] The airline considered a technical problem to be unlikely as the plane had been inspected two days before the incident and no defects had been found.[27] The airline opined that pilot error was impossible to be cited as the cause of the crash as the pilots had exclusively been trained for the Tehran flights for years, noting that Tehran Airport was "not a simple airport".[28]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims.[29] Officials stated that he would cut his visit in Oman short due to the disaster.[26] President Zelensky later added that several planes had been prepared in Kiev to travel to Tehran to transport the dead.[26]

Given the large loss of Canadian life, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Transport Minister Marc Garneau both expressed sympathy for the victims. Champagne announced that he was in touch with the Ukrainian government and Garneau announced that Canada was offering assistance in the investigation.[30]

The British Foreign Office said that they are deeply saddened by the loss of life and are urgently seeking confirmation about how many British nationals were on board.[5] The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement stating that they are deeply saddened and expressed their condolences to the families who lost their lives, as well as to the "Governments and friendly peoples of Ukraine and Iran".[31] Russian President Vladimir Putin also sent condolences to the two countries.[32][33]

Several airlines reacted to the missile attack and/or the crash by re-routing flights that overflew Iran, or cancelling flights to Iran. Singapore Airlines and Qantas re-routed its flights to avoid Iranian airspace. Air Astana and SCAT Airlines were reported to be considering re-routing flights. Air France, Flydubai, KLM,[34] Lufthansa,[35] and Ukraine International Airlines cancelled flights to Iran.[36] Air Canada rerouted its Toronto-Dubai flight to fly over Egypt and Saudi Arabia, rather than over Iraq as previously.[37] Qatar Airways stated that its flights would operate as scheduled, but that the situation would be monitored.[35] The United States Federal Aviation Administration banned all American civil aircraft from overflying Iran, Iraq, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.[38]

Investigation

Iran Civil Aviation Organization (Iran CAO) spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh reported shortly after the incident that a team of investigators had been sent to the crash site.[13] The head of the commission for accidents in the Iran CAO said that they received no emergency message from the aircraft before the crash.[39] It was reported that the aircraft's black boxes (the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder) had been recovered, but spokesman Ali Abedzadeh said it was not clear to which country the box would be sent so that its data could be analyzed.[35] Iran’s aviation authority has said it will not hand over the black boxes either to the aircraft’s manufacturer or US aviation authorities.[40]

Under standard International Civil Aviation Organisation rules, America's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would participate in the investigation, as they represented the state of the manufacturer of the aircraft. France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) would participate as representatives of the state of manufacture of the aircraft's engines and Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure would participate as representatives of the state in which the aircraft was registered. Given the current tensions in Iran, it is not known how these organizations would be involved, although it was reported that Iran had stated that American, French and Ukrainian authorities would be involved.[36]

On 8 January 2020, the Ukrainian government said that it would send experts to Tehran to assist with the investigation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Ukrainian General Prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into the crash.[26] The Ukrainian Embassy in Iran initially said that preliminary details pointed to engine failure, but it retracted the statement shortly thereafter.[41] Later the same day, the Embassy said that anything was possible and refused to rule out that the plane was struck by a missile.[42]

On the same day, Iran's Road and Transportation Ministry released a statement that the aircraft burst into flames after a fire started in one of its engines, causing the pilot to lose control and crash into the ground.[43][26] According to aviation expert Vadim Lukashevich it was clear there was a fire on board, however ruling out a shootdown would be premature: "An engine fire does not exclude the possibility that it was caused by a missile strike".[27]

Some aviation experts considered it too early to discuss causes. However, many did agree that the plane may have suffered a sudden and violent catastrophic failure, caused either by an engine failure or missile attack. This was evidenced by the flight data that abruptly cut off during its climb, which was noted as "very unusual".[44][45][46][47] Former inspector general of the U.S Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo criticized Iranian officials' quick decision to declare the cause of the crash as engine failure, claiming that "[t]here was no way for Iran to know it was engine failure,"[48][49] while Aviation monitoring group Opsgroup stated they "would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary", asserting that photographs "show obvious projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section".[27] Some aviation experts also shared the same opinion that a catastrophic engine failure is very unlikely - though not impossible - to cause a plane to burst into flames in mid air and crash, claiming that such incidents are very rare.[50][51][52][53][54][55][56] However, security sources from western countries - three Americans, one European and one Canadian - stated that initial findings didn't suggest a missile attack and rather indicated that the plane had a technical malfunction.[57][58][59][60]

Iran declared January 9th 2020 as a national day of mourning for both the victims of Flight 752 and those killed during the stampede at Qasem Soleimani's funeral.[61]

See also

References

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  61. ^ /إيران تعلن الحداد على قتلى التدافع وتحطم الطائرة
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