Crash: UIA B738 at Tehran on Jan 8th 2020, lost height after departure
By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Jan 8th 2020 05:54Z, last updated Wednesday, Jan 8th 2020 15:38Z
A UIA Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration UR-PSR performing flight PS-752 from Tehran Imam Khomeini (Iran) to Kiev (Ukraine) with 167 passengers and 9 crew, was climbing through 8000 feet out of Tehran's runway 29R about 12nm northwest of the airport at about 06:18L (02:48Z), when the aircraft's transponder signals ceased. The aircraft was found in an open field near Parand, a surbub of Tehran, at position N35.5529 E51.1121 about 10nm east of the last transponder position (N35.52 E50.91). All occupants perished in the crash.
Iran's Civil Aviation Authority CAO reported the aircraft was handed off by ATC at about 06:18L near Tehran when it fell to the ground. Initial reports indicate all occupants have been killed in the impact. Iran's Accident Investigation Board has dispatched investigators on site. Most occupants were Irani citizens, a number of occupants were citizens of other nations.
Iran's Emergency Services reported no survivors were found by rescue and recovery units dispatched to the crash site.
Ukraine's Embassy to the Iran tweeted that UIA confirmed their aircraft crashed near Tehran Airport after takeoff. According to first information all occupants have been killed. A task force and a hotline for relatives has been set up. The Embassy subsequently added a statement on their website stating: "According to preliminary information from the Iranian side, the plane crashed due to an engine failure due to technical reasons. The version of the terrorist attack or rocket attack is currently excluded." All 9 crew were Ukrainian citizens. At around 08:20Z on Jan 8th 2020 the embassy entirely withdrew their message on their website and replaced it with a travel warning for Iran. On their Twitter feed the Embassy reported according to passenger manifest the aircraft carried 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians (including 9 crew), 10 Swedish citizens, 4 Afghanistan citizens, 3 Germans and 3 British citizens (176 occupants). The embassy later reinstated their earlier, withdrawn message however without the sentence regarding the engine failure, now stating instead: "Information on the causes of the plane crash is clarified by the accident investigation commission. Any statements regarding the causes of the accident before the commission decision are not official."
Iran's Accident Investigation Board reported all their investigators are out to investigate the crash. The crew did not transmit any emergency call and did not indicate any problems. The aircraft crashed about 5 minutes after departure. In the evening the AIB reported the black boxes have not yet been located.
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