Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 occupants on board.
Missiles were fired at the aircraft by the IRGC amidst heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. The incident occurred five days after the United States carried out the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and some hours after Iran retaliated with Operation Martyr Soleimani, in which the IRGC fired a dozen ballistic missiles on American forces; both the assassination and the missile strikes took place in Iraq.
Iranian authorities initially denied having any responsibility for the aircraft's destruction, but investigations by various intelligence agencies from the Western world as well as by the Iranian government later revealed that it had been struck by two surface-to-air missiles.
On 11 January 2020, the Government of Iran admitted that the IRGC had shot down the plane, stating that it had "unintentionally" targeted Flight 752 after mistaking it for a cruise missile, and the head of the IRGC apologized for the mistake. The announcement triggered another wave of Iranian anti-government protests (part of the larger 2019–2020 Iranian protests), calling for the removal of Ali Khamenei.
Background
The disaster occurred amid a heightened political crisis in the Persian Gulf, four hours after the Iranian military launched retaliatory ballistic missile strikes towards U.S. military airbases in Iraq in response to the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani by the U.S. The U.S. previously threatened Iran and was initially expected to retaliate for the Iranian attack. Iran was on the highest state of defensive alert and, according to Commander of the Aerospace Force of the IRGC Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was "totally prepared for a full-fledged war".
In response to the Iranian missile attack, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in a notice to airmen (NOTAM), banned all American civil aircraft from flying over Iran, Iraq, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Although the FAA NOTAMs are not binding on non-U.S. airlines, many airlines take them into consideration when making safety decisions, especially after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014. Several airlines, including Austrian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, KLM, Air France, Air India, SriLankan Airlines, Qantas and Vietnam Airlines began to reroute their flights. Other airlines, such as Lufthansa, Emirates, Flydubai, and Turkish Airlines cancelled some flights to airports in Iran and Iraq, making further operational changes as necessary.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a Boeing 737-8KV, serial number 38124, registration UR-PSR. It was three-and-a-half years old when it was shot down, having first flown on 21 June 2016. It was delivered to UIA on 19 July 2016, the first 737 Next Generation aircraft purchased by the airline. The aircraft was well maintained, with the airline saying it had been inspected just two days before the crash.
Flight and crash
The flight was operated by Ukraine International Airlines, flag carrier and largest airline of Ukraine, on a scheduled flight from the Iranian capital Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport to Boryspil International Airport in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The aircraft was carrying 176 people, including 9 crew members and 15 children. Flight 752 took off from Runway 29R an hour behind schedule, at 06:12:08 local time (UTC+3:30), and was expected to land in Kyiv at 08:00 local time (UTC+2:00). Between 06:14:17 and 06:14:45 the airplane turned from the take-off heading of 289° to heading 313°, following its regular route.
According to the data, the last recorded altitude of the aircraft was 2,416 metres (7,925 ft) above mean sea level with a ground speed of 275 knots (509 km/h; 316 mph). The airport is 1,007 metres (3,305 ft) above mean sea level and the terrain around Parand and the crash site lies approximately 125 metres (410 ft) higher at 1,134 metres (3,720 ft). The flight was climbing at just under 15 metres per second (3,000 ft/min) when the flight data recorder abruptly ended over the open ground near the northern end of Enqelab Eslami Boulevard in Parand.
Analysis of several videos by The New York Times showed that the aircraft was hit almost immediately after departure by the first of two short-range missiles (which knocked out its transponder) launched 30 seconds apart by the IRGC, and with the aircraft having maintained its track, by the second missile 23 seconds later, after which it veered right and could be seen on fire before disappearing from view. Ukrainian investigators believed the pilots were killed instantly by shrapnel from the missile which exploded near the cockpit. However, an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder indicated that for at least 19 seconds after the first missile strike, all three cockpit crew members continued to attempt to fly the aircraft, and there was no indication of injury or adverse health effects during that time.
The final ADS-B data received was at 06:14:57, less than three minutes after departure,
after which the aircraft's track was recorded by primary radar only. Its last seconds were captured in several video recordings. The aircraft crashed in a park and fields on the edge of the village of Khalajabad, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi; 8.1 nmi) north-west of the airport, and about 16 kilometres (10 mi) east-northeast of the last missile strike, about six minutes after takeoff.
Shortly after the crash, emergency responders arrived in 22 ambulances, 4 bus ambulances, and a helicopter, but intense fires prevented a rescue attempt. The wreckage was strewn over a wide area, with no survivors found at the crash site. The aircraft was completely destroyed on impact. All 176 passengers and crew were killed. It was the deadliest aviation occurrence in terms of fatalities involving the Boeing 737 Next Generation fleet until Jeju Air Flight 2216 crashed in Muan nearly five years later. It is currently the third deadliest aviation incident or accident to involve a Boeing 737, behind Lion Air Flight 610 (a Boeing 737 MAX 8) and the aforementioned Jeju Air Flight 2216.
Passengers and crew
There were 167 passengers and 9 crew members on the flight. According to Iranian officials, 146 passengers used Iranian passports to leave Iran, 10 used Afghan passports, 5 used Canadian ones, 4 used Swedish ones, and 2 used Ukrainian passports.
According to Ukrainian foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko and a flight manifest released by UIA, of the 167 passengers, 82 were confirmed to be Iranian citizens, 63 were Canadian, 3 were British, 4 were Afghan, 10 were Swedish, and 3 were German. 11 Ukrainians were also on board, 9 of them being crew members. The German Foreign Ministry denied any Germans were aboard; the three people in question were Afghan nationals who lived in Germany as asylum seekers. According to Iranian nationality law, the Iranian government considers dual citizens to be solely Iranian citizens.
Of the 167 passengers, 138 were travelling to Canada via Ukraine. Many of the Iranian Canadians were affiliated with Canadian universities, as students or academics who had travelled to Iran during the winter break. The crash was the largest loss of Canadian lives in aviation since the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182. On 15 January 2020, Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said 57 Canadians died in the crash.
In addition to six flight attendants, the crew consisted of 50 year old captain Volodymyr Gaponenko (11,600 hours on Boeing 737 aircraft, including 5,500 hours as captain), 42 year old instructor pilot Oleksiy Naumkin (12,000 hours on Boeing 737s, including 6,600 as captain), and 48 year old first officer Serhiy Khomenko (7,600 hours on Boeing 737).
Investigation
The Civil Aviation Organization of Iran (CAOI) reported shortly after the incident that a team of investigators had been sent to the crash site. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Ukrainian General Prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into the crash. The Ukrainian government sent 45 investigators to assist with the inquiry into the shootdown of the airliner.
Under standard International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) rules, according to Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would participate in the investigation, as they represented the state of the manufacturer of the aircraft. France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) would participate as representatives of the state of manufacture of the aircraft's engines (a U.S.–France joint venture) and Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure would participate as representatives of the state in which the aircraft was registered. Given that there were tensions between these nations and Iran as part of the 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis, it was not known how these investigative organizations would be involved, although it was reported that Iran had said American, French and Ukrainian authorities would be involved.
The head of the commission for accidents in the CAOI said they received no emergency message from the aircraft before the crash. It was reported that the aircraft's black boxes (the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR)) had been recovered, but the CAOI said it was not clear to which country the recorders would be sent so the data could be analyzed. The association said it would not hand over the black boxes to Boeing or to U.S. authorities. On 9 January, the black boxes were reported, by Iranian investigators, to have been damaged and that some parts of their memory may have been lost. Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Department of Transportation inspector general, said no automated distress messages had been sent from the aircraft or by its crew.
On 9 January, the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority and Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) were officially invited by the investigation team to participate in the probe on the crash. The NTSB, Ukraine, and Boeing were also invited to participate in the investigation. Due to American economic sanctions placed on Iran, U.S. investigators would need a special licence from the Treasury and the State Departments to travel there.
On 9 January, media reports showed bulldozers being used to clear the crash site. Some aircraft investigation experts expressed concerns about disturbing and damaging the crash site before a thorough investigation could be conducted. Iran denied bulldozing the evidence. On 10 January, the Iranian government granted Ukrainian investigators permission to investigate the flight recorders and Ukrainian investigators visited the crash site, with plans to download the recorders in Tehran. On 14 January, the head of the TSB, Kathy Fox, said there were signs that Iran would allow the TSB to participate in the downloading and analysis of data from the airplane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. On 23 January, the TSB announced that they had been invited by Iran to help with the flight recorders.
On 2 February, Ukrainian public TV aired a leaked recording of the information exchange between the Iranian pilot of an Aseman Airlines flight and an Iranian air traffic controller. The pilot stated in Persian that he saw "a series of flares like that of a missile" and later an explosion. Following the leak, Zelenskyy said the new evidence proved Iran was well aware from the very first moments that the Ukraine passenger airplane was brought down by a missile. The following day Iran ceased co-operation with Ukraine in its investigation into the disaster. Iran resumed co-operation on 15 February. In the final report about the crash, Iranian authorities gave a more complete transcript of the communication.
Flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder
On 20 January, Iran asked for assistance from France and the United States to recover the data from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. On 5 February, Canada urged Iran to send the recorders to France. Iran denied the request. On 12 March, Iran agreed to hand over the recorders to Ukraine. However, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed this action. During this time, impatience began to mount from Ukraine, Canada, and ICAO.
On 11 June, Iran announced that the flight recorders would be sent directly to the Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) in France. Canadian officials urged Iran to complete this action "as soon as possible", citing the previous delays in handing over the recorders. This statement was further reinforced 11 days later, when Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif commented on this intention during a phone call with Canadian foreign minister François-Philippe Champagne. On 20 July, the examination of the recorders started in Paris.