Aviation specialists believe a missile may be to blame for the fiery crash of a Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737 that fell into pieces over Tehran, Iran late Tuesday night.
Iran and the Ukrainian embassy initially claimed the flight crashed because of “technical difficulties,” but Ukraine later retracted the statement and called for an official investigation. Iran said it would not release the flight’s black box recorder to U.S. manufacturer Boeing, prompting analysts to doubt whether a mechanical failure led to the crash.
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“We would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary,” wrote OPS, a group of aviation analysts. OPS also said images released Wednesday morning of the crash site “show obvious projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section.”
Ukrainian International Airlines also dismissed the idea of technical difficulties, claiming there was “nothing wrong” with the plane and that it had been serviced only two days before the crash.
“We guarantee the safety of our aircraft and the high qualification of our crews,” a representative said.
The crash occurred hours after the Iranian government launched dozens of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq housing American forces.
President Trump grounded Boeing’s fleet of Max 737s in March of 2019 after two Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights crashed due to a technical malfunction, killing hundreds on board.
Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International magazine, said that the incident was notable “given the fact it was in Iran and the timing.” The former head of the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Zeev Sarig, warned that the crash could be due to technical malfunction but that “unfortunately from what I see that looks less likely” and it was possible there was a “bomb on board.”
