IRAN JET CRASH REPORT ‘RAISES MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS’, CANADA’S SAFETY CHIEF SAYS

Fri 19 March 2021:

Iran’s investigation into the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet is sparse and raises more questions than answers, Canadian Transportation Safety board (TSB) Chair Kathy Fox said on Thursday.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization published a report on Wednesday in which it concluded that Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 (PS752) was brought down inadvertently by an Iranian missile after being mistaken for a hostile target.

“We believe that the final report issued by Iran yesterday is incomplete. It raises more question that it answers,” Fox told reporters in Ottawa.

Fox said that Iran’s conclusion offers a “plausible” explanation of what occurred but stressed that Iranian investigators did not provide evidence to support this determination.

Fox, along with the TSB’s lead investigator in the probe, Ewan Tasker, said the Iran’s government’s structure and actions undermined the credibility of the investigation, citing the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development’s control over the Civil Aviation Organization and decision to withdraw the country’s military from the scope of the investigation.

The TSB chair added that the report was short on recommendations to ensure that such an accident does not occur again and criticized Tehran for not disclosing what changes were implemented as part of the Iranian military’s review of the accident.

Iranian investigators had said that military actions fall outside of Annex 13 jurisdiction, a point Fox disagreed with.

While acknowledging that Iranian investigators provided more access than they were entitled to, Fox protested that Canadian investigators received less access than what was requested and called for a review of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) protocols to improve credibility of future safety reports.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims, a Canadian-based not-for-profit corporation, in a statement on Wednesday called Iran’s report a set of “fabrications and a continuation of a lie,” alleging that the airliner was shot down intentionally.

The TSB chair said the agency cannot assign blame or legal culpability. Tasker added that Iran made no effort to obstruct the investigation but noted that removal of the military from the scope of the investigation leaves many questions unanswered.

Iranian officials have not publicly commented on Canada’s claims.

Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran after being shot down by the Iranian military. The passengers were mostly Canadian and Iranian nationals and nine Ukrainian crew members.

The Iranian military said it was on high alert at the time of the accident, which happened hours after it fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

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