Report reaching Fox Channel has it that a Ukrainian airplane carrying about 180 people crashed after takeoff in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday, killing everyone on board, according to Iranian state TV and Ukrainian officials.
Pir Hossein Kulivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services agency, told state TV that all were killed, according to The Associated Press.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that he had received reports of the crash that indicated all passengers and crew died in the crash. He extended his condolences to the families of the victims.
Iranian State TV said that there were 179 people were aboard the Boeing 737, and all but 32 of them were Iranian. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said it was a Ukraine International Airlines plane, NBC News reports.
The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. According to the report, the crash is suspected to have been caused by mechanical issues, without elaborating.
Ukraine’s embassy to Iran said in a statement Wednesday that based on preliminary information from Iranian officials, the plane crashed because of an engine issue, not an attack.
Ukraine’s president on Facebook on Wednesday asked “everyone to refrain from speculation and putting forward untested versions of the disaster before the official announcements.”
Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said an investigation team was at the site of the crash on the southwestern outskirts of Tehran, according to the AP.
Boeing Co. said in a statement: “We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information.”
Iranian state TV reported that officials got word of the crash just before 6:30 a.m.
Reports of the crash came hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq as retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general by a U.S. airstrike. The Defense Department said Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles early Wednesday local time.
The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, issued “notices to airmen” outlining flight restrictions in the region Tuesday night.
The FAA said the notices prohibited U.S. civilian aviation operators from flying in the airspace over Iraq, Iran and the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The agency said it was closely monitoring events in the Middle East.
Ukraine International Airlines said that flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv disappeared from radar just minutes after departing from the Iranian airport, where it left at 6:10 a.m.
“The airline expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash and will do everything possible to support the relatives and loved ones of the victims,” the airline said in a statement. “As of today, UIA has decided to suspend its own flights to Tehran indefinitely.”
Ukraine International Airlines said the plane, a Boeing 737-800, was built in 2016 and went straight to the airline. The last scheduled maintenance of the aircraft was Jan. 6, it said.
