Experts and politicians are puzzled about the cause of the crash of a Ukrainian Boeing near Tehran. The Iranian authorities speak of technical problems, Western governments of rocket launches. The truth is said to bring a lengthy investigation to light.
Flight PS752 erupted in a fireball shortly after take-off in Tehran last Wednesday. Led by the United States, several western countries report evidence of rocket fire – the accused Iran denies this and cites a technical defect as the cause. We have gathered all previous knowledge about the PS752 death flight.
When did flight PS752 take off in Tehran?
The almost four-year-old Boeing 737-800 took off on Wednesday morning at 6.13 a.m. local time with 176 people on board from Tehran’s Iman Khomeini airport towards Kiev. The pilot was then approved to climb to 26,000 feet (7925 meters) to radio contact the air traffic control in Mehrabad. Five minutes after taking off, the twin-engine jet had reached a height of almost 8000 feet (2440 meters) when it lost height after a right turn and disappeared from the radar.
There was no emergency call from the crew. Eyewitnesses on the ground and in the air subsequently reported that the jet had burned into a park in the Tehran suburb of Sabaschar.
What does Iran say?
The Iranian air safety authority CAO claims that the machine had a “technical problem”. The marks at the impact point indicated that the aircraft initially flew west out of the airport’s airspace, “but turned to the right after a technical problem and had a flight lane that indicated a return to the airport,” says the first accident report. Shortly after the crash, Iran also spoke of an engine problem. However, a Boeing 737-800 can also be held in the air with an engine. According to the Iranian media, the country wants to announce on Saturday what caused the crash.
What alternative scenarios are there?
For accident researcher Jan-Arwed Richter from Aviation security office Jacdec It was clear from a few hours after the crash by looking at the pictures: “It looks like projectiles have been thrown through the outer skin and the wing – whatever that means.”
Videos appeared later that showed a flash in the night sky. In connection with flight path calculations, they raised the suspicion that a missile was involved. After Canada and Great Britain, the United States now also assume that one Iranian air defense position accidentally shot down the passenger plane Has. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, emphasized that one must wait for the investigation,
How should the shooting take place?
Anti-aircraft missiles usually explode in the immediate vicinity of their target and do maximum damage with a shower of tiny projectiles. The government in Kiev had not ruled out that the Boeing could have been hit by a Russian “Tor” missile. Defense expert Franz Klinzewitsch in the Russian Federation Council rejected this.
How should the cause of the crash be clarified independently?
In its investigation, the Iranian aviation authority CAO relies on Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention of the international civil aviation authority ICAO, to which Iran joined in 1950. As the country where the crash happened, it leads the investigation. It has indicated that it also wants to involve authorities from Ukraine, the United States, Sweden and Canada. Typically, such examinations give teams from countries where the crash plane was built and registered, and from countries where many of the victims come from, access to the crash site.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that existing US sanctions, which could make it more difficult for foreign experts to participate, said that his ministry would grant exemptions to anyone who could support the investigation. The ICAO confirmed receipt of the preliminary CAO investigation report and warned against speculation. She points out that a final report must be available no later than twelve months after the accident. The authority does not normally take part in the investigations, but can be consulted as an observer. At the same time, the lengthy investigation of Boeing flight recorders by Iranian and Ukrainian experts began.
Have there been erroneous kills of transport jets?
Yes. In times of extreme tension and the highest level of military readiness, commercial aircraft were shot down again and again. The most recent case dates from 2014: At that time, the Malaysian flight MH17 was hit by an anti-aircraft missile over eastern Ukraine. Iran was also affected: In 1988 the US warship “Vincennes” accidentally shot down an Iranian Airbus.
How do radars tell you if they are friends or foes?
Military aircraft have what is known as an IFF system on board, which sends automatic signals intended to identify friends or foes. Civil small and large aircraft also send automatic transponder codes for identification, which are assigned to them by the air traffic control. In theory, doubts are actually excluded. In practice, however – especially with older missile systems – it cannot be ruled out that a civilian flight destination will accidentally fall into the crosshairs.
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