Boeing 737 jet crash: Black boxes recovered; Iran will not give those to planemaker
A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed earlier on Wednesday with 176 people on board. All of them diedUkraine set up a commission to investigate the plane crash
Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to planemaker Boeing, the head of Tehran's civil aviation organisation was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Ali Abedzadeh also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analysed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crashed earlier on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.
Ukraine's embassy in Iran dropped an initial reference to engine failure as the cause of a Ukrainian plane crash outside Tehran on Wednesday.
It said in a second statement that the causes had not been disclosed and that any previous comments were not official.
Asked at a briefing in Kiev if the plane could have been downed by a missile, Ukraine's Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk cautioned against speculation until the results of an investigation were known.
He also said that Ukraine had banned flights through Iranian airspace by its airliners from Jan. 9.
Ukraine set up a commission to investigate the plane crash, while UIA said the aircraft had been in good working order and that it was doing all it could to establish what happened.
The plane, which the company said had mostly been carrying passengers planning to transit via Ukraine to destinations in Europe, was manufactured in 2016 and was acquired directly from Boeing, officials said.
UIA says on its website it had been awarded the IOSA - the IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate - meaning its operational and safety standards were fully in line with international requirements.
The airline, which operates domestic and international flights, has a fleet of 42 planes made up, according to it own website, of various Boeings, including 737-800s and 737-900s. It also operates Embraer aircraft.
Financial problems forced it to scale back its route network last year.
UIA is in the process of trying to modernise its fleet and has ordered three Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which it has not yet taken delivery of due to continuing safety concerns over the MAX project.
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.