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A Ukraine Airlines plane reportedly suffering
technical difficulties have crashed near Tehran airport.
A Ukrainian Boeing 737 has crashed shortly
after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport with 180 passengers and crew aboard, Iranian media report. There was no immediate information on
casualties.
A passenger plane carrying 180 people bound
for the Ukrainian capital, Kiev has crashed a few minutes after taking off
from Tehran’s main international airport, Iranian media reports say.
The Boeing 737-800 operated by Ukrainian
International Airlines took off from Imam Khomeini international airport at
6.12am Tehran time and went down about eight minutes later, according to
flight tracking websites.
Early indications suggested the crash did not
appear to have links to Wednesday morning’s missile strikes on bases in Iraq
hosting US and coalition troops.
Boeing released a brief statement saying it
was aware of the media reports and was gathering more information. A video
purportedly of the crash circulated by the ISNA news agency showed the
aircraft burning as it fell from the sky.
No significant safety issues have been raised
with the 737-800, though it belongs to the same family as the 737 Max 8
aircraft, which has been grounded since suffering two fatal crashes within six months in Indonesia and Ethiopia. However, the 737-800 operates with a
different software system to the one implicated in the Max 8 crashes.
The Ukraine International Airlines jet was
less than four years old.
The Boeing 737-800 has been involved in a number of fatal accidents over the years. In March 2016, a Flydubai 737-800
from Dubai crashed while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia.
Sixty-two people aboard lost their lives.
The Boeing 737-800 is an older model than the
Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for almost 10 months following two
crashes, one in Ethiopia and the other in Indonesia.
The Boeing Company, based in Chicago, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran has suffered a series of fatal air accidents
in recent years. Decades of international sanctions imposed on the country
has taken a toll on its commercial passenger aircraft fleet.
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