737 crash departing Teheran

[prospector]

https://www.rt.com/news/477687-iran-ukr ... m_campaign

[TheGreenGoblin]

Doesn't sound hopeful...

A Ukrainian airliner with at least 170 people on board crashed on Wednesday due to technical problems soon after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

Rescue teams have been sent to an area near the airport where the Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed, Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, told state television.

"The plane is on fire but we have sent crews ... and we may be able to save some passengers." Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's emergency services, told the television.

He later said: "The fire is so heavy that we cannot (do) any rescue... we have 22 ambulances, four bus ambulances and a helicopter at the site."

Jafarzadeh put the number of passengers on board the flight at 170.

According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, the plane that crashed was on Flight PS 752.

IRNA said according to preliminary information "the plane was bound for Kiev ... and had 180 passengers and crew."

Boeing said the company was aware of media reports of a plane crash in Iran and was gathering more information.

Yahoo report

Video purports to show the aircraft on fire as it descended...

[Ex-Ascot]

If anyone wants a good laugh this morning go to: https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/628 ... -iran.html and see what all the armchair pilots say about it. Amazingly no METAR there yet either. Opinion invited but the so called picture of the crash they are so expertly discussing I do not think is the crash in question. Would it not have still been dark when the so called crash photo was taken. Also I do not think that this is the scene of a recent crash.

Too early to to tell what happened.

[Slasher]

Didnt laugh but was mildly amused Sah. You should post there that it’s a strict PPrune RoE to provide a METAR even if a Beaver takes out a small gable marker while taxiing at an ALA. Otherwise the thread simply won’t be taken seriously by members, nor any hotel lobby patrons, front desk staff, concierges, bellboys, mothers with small children and the piano player in the corner.

[TheGreenGoblin]

More detail and some photos...

[AtomKraft]

Dreadful.
Wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be an accidental casualty of the shooting going on in the region.

Quite surprised to see the Iranian authorities stating it was due to engine failure, while the wreckage is still hot.

[Capetonian]

Before rumours start that it was a 737MAX, it wasn't. It was a 3 y/o Boeing 737-NG. SN 38124 according to FR.

[AtomKraft]

Some pics showing what looks like holes made by warhead fragments....

[OFSO]

Only way to be really safe in an aircraft is to sit in a 737Max... Yes, there are some strange puncture (?) marks on the fuselage pieces, and the immediacy of the announcement of mechanical cause leaves one wondering.

[Capetonian]

If it was an uncontained engine failure, and if blades penetrated the wing, then it might have caused a fire and those puncture marks. I would be surprised though if any certainty on that could have been reached so quickly. Most of what we are seeing is speculation. As usual.

[Boac]

Talk about speculation on TOP!!

[Woody]

Sensible comment on TOP

Given the timing was in the immediate aftermath of the missile strikes, think of the sheer amount of surveillance the US would have been conducting on anything that moved in Iranian airspace. Every surveillance asset they have available would've been trained on Iranian airspace at the time.

If the US are not somehow involved, which is probably unlikely, expect them to produce some very compelling evidence of what actually happened.

[Boac]

If the US are not somehow involved, which is probably unlikely,

No ***** Sherlock! Does anyone seriously think the US would bring down a Ukranian airliner?!!

[barkingmad]

Maybe accidental shootdown by local defence resources nervous at anything lit which moves airborne in the dark?

Or local SAM operator tracking the airliner to hone his skills forgetting the trigger was live?

[probes]

... the immediacy of the announcement of mechanical cause leaves one wondering.

True. But then, why a Ukraninian one, if it could have been deliberate? Doesn't make sense.

[barkingmad]

TOP has photos showing possible fragment penetration from a missile or similar. Then pleas for the thread to be locked down in case of something nasty being done.
And one of their ‘moderators’ asking what type of engine fitted to a NG-800! Prize prat!

[TheGreenGoblin]

Maybe accidental shootdown by local defence resources nervous at anything lit which moves airborne in the dark?

Or local SAM operator tracking the airliner to hone his skills forgetting the trigger was live?

Quite possible!

BA diverted this flight to avoid the relevant airspace.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ne ... 74701.html

[TheGreenGoblin]

Not surprisingly Iraqi airspace has been NOTAM'd for some time. Iran likely to be I would guess!

Airspace security warnings issued by the department for transport in response to hazardous situations within the territory and/or airspace of Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, north Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, south Sudan, Syria, up to 200NM outside the damascus FIR, Ukraine and Yemen. All operators are to refer to the table in UK AIP at ENR 1.1 section 1.4 for further details. 2018-03-0229-AS1
••.

Ukraine have deleted an earlier statement attributing the crash to engine failure.

[Rwy in Sight]

... the immediacy of the announcement of mechanical cause leaves one wondering.

True. But then, why a Ukraninian one, if it could have been deliberate? Doesn't make sense.

Thanks probe. Initially you got me puzzled about the deliberate notion then it become clear.

[TheGreenGoblin]