Ukraine International Airlines plane carrying 170 passengers and crew crashed shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran early Wednesday local time, Iran’s local media.
All persons on board the aircraft have died were killed in the incident, Iran’s state television said.
The plane, a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, crashed due to technical difficulties, according to the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency. It crashed near the airport and immediately burst into flames.
In a video shown by the state media, the plane is seen burning like a ball of fire in the sky before crashing in a huge explosion.
Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran`s emergency services, told state television, “The fire is so huge that we cannot do any rescue… we have 22 ambulances, four bus ambulances and a helicopter at the site.”
The jet was headed for Ukraine.
The website Flightradar24 showed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 left Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport for Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport early Wednesday morning.
We are following reports that a Ukrainian 737-800 has crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran. #PS752 departed Tehran at 02:42UTC. Last ADS-B data received at 02:44UTC. https://t.co/qXWHUPGDTu pic.twitter.com/vuAi6TOqTp
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 8, 2020
Boeing, manufacturer of the 737 aircraft, is already under pressure to increase safety following two deadly crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 which claimed nearly 350 lives. Following the crashes, 737 Max Jet was grounded globally for 10 months.
The 737-800 and 737 Max are both variants of Boeing’s 737 narrow-body planes but the 737-800 hasn’t been grounded.
Flightradar24 added that the aircraft, a 737-800 (not a MAX) registered UR-PSR, was delivered new to Ukraine International Airlines in 2016.
We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information.
— The Boeing Company (@Boeing) January 8, 2020
“We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information,” Boeing said on Twitter.
