A Ukrainian passenger jet, a Boeing 737 w/ 180 on board, just crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff.

[highplainsdem]

Seeing lots of tweets about this, some saying the crash was due to a technical issue, though other tweets are asking how they could know that already.

Bloomberg story, only one paragraph so far:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-08/boeing-737-passenger-jet-crashes-in-iran-due-to-technical-issue

[Dennis Donovan]

1. AP reporting as well

Link to tweet

It is the worst-timed technical issue in the history of technical issues.

[JoeOtterbein]

2. The horror continues.

(tears)

[Drum]

3. Boeing 737???

[NutmegYankee]

6. Lots of models other than the 737 Max.

The 737 family is the best selling passenger plane of all time, just beating out the A320 family.

[Drum]

9. I appreciate some perspective!

I am not knowledgeable about aircraft, but have just heard so many headlines mentioning Boeing 737.

I thank you for your reply! My first impulse in reading it was to delete mine (in embarrassment) but I should leave it there.

Again, thank you NutmegYankee....

[NutmegYankee]

17. NP. It seems it was a 737-800.

That's the most common narrow body jet in use right now. Nearly 5000 delivered for service over the past 20 years.

[caraher]

18. Turns out they fly 737-800s and 737-900s

And they don't fly the MAX

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) is interested in renewal of its fleet with modern types of aircraft. Currently, there are no Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the UIA fleet, but delivery of three aircraft type is planned during 2019. In this case, the number one priority for us has always been and remains the safety of our passengers on board. UIA is currently engaged in an active dialogue with the manufacturer of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and is following the investigation process of the flight ET302 fatal accident.

The aircraft will enter commercial operation only when the required procedures are carried out, the aircraft complies with all safety requirements, and permission has been received for its flights from the aviation authorities of at least from the FAA, EASA and State Aviation Authority of Ukraine.

And from an older press release:

On Thursday, 08 November the UIA’s Boeing 737-300 aircraft with registration number UR-GBD operated its final flight under Ukraine International Airlines’ call sign. Subsequently UIA’s fleet consists of 42 aircraft with the average age of 10.5 years.

UIA continues its fleet renewal program. Three Classic Generation aircraft, including two Boeing 737-300 and one Boeing 737-500 were decommissioned. And now the company’s medium haul fleet includes only New Generation Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-900 with an average age of 8.7 years. These planes have bigger capacity and consume less fuel per seat kilometer.

[NutmegYankee]

24. That's what I figured. I think all MAX 8s are grounded right now. nt

[Johnny2X2X]

4. OMG

Unintended consequences of war. Good chance this was either shot down or had its control jammed. I hope that wasn’t us.

[Happy Hoosier]

43. Or they just have a poor standard of maintenance.

It’s pretty common. I won’t fly on carriers I don’t know and trust.

[VMA131Marine]

46. Ukraine International Air

They’ve been around since 1992 and fly routes around the world, including into the US and EU which both have high standards on airlines flying within their airspace.
This is UIAs first fatal crash and it’s looking like it was an Iranian missile that brought it down.

[Happy Hoosier]

57. I've seen reports of thew missile....

And the purported video of it. Makes some sense. The jet was only 3.5 years old.

[RockRaven]

5. If it just happened, then any claim of technical issue is somewhere between speculation

and very tenuous inference... unless "crashed" means "landed with damage" and the pilot/crew is alive and talking.

[Flaleftist]

45. It's possible the pilot and crew were able to communicate with the tower

and tell them what the plane was doing before the crash. If it didn't just explode in mid-air, that should at least eliminate the possibility it was some kind of projectile.

Of course, the timing is a bit curious.

[RockRaven]

50. Even if the pilot could relay what they were experiencing, there is still a symptom/disease problem

It is one thing to describe the symptoms at a specific moment. It is another to confirm that the constellation of symptoms is attributable to a specific disease -- usually some degree of further investigation or empirical treatment or both is required (and yet even then may not suffice).

The pilot in a failing plane can probably say quite a lot about what is happening, but I am rather skeptical about how sound or conclusive of a judgement can be made on that basis alone (and it is certain that there has been no flight data recorder analysis done yet at the time it is being reported as a mechanical failure). The pilot has more information than I do, of course, but he or she also has incomplete information to be certain. There is no reason to accept a narrative of mechanical failure at this time.

On top of that there are mechanical failures and then there are "mechanical failures." Car brakes may fail because of corrosion on some metal part, or because of a vengeful ex-spouse slashing a brake line as in a lousy dime novel/whodunit. To the poor sod about to plow into a stopped semi truck on the interstate those two mechanical failures are probably indiscernible, but the difference -- if detectable -- means EVERYTHING to the plot of the story.

This scenario is so sketchy as to be rejected as a plot for a dumb Michael Bay explodey-film: Trump-Russia, Russia-Ukraine, Russia-Iran, Trump-Iran, America-Boeing, Ukraine-Boeing......

[Recursion]

54. The order is aviate, navigate, communicate

If the plane is falling out of the sky the pilot is too busy to say much

[Pachamama]

7. If true, I feel it's like a twilight zone moment with two stories -Ukraine and Iran converging

Crazy and strange

[herding cats]

10. It's true that it happened.

Beyond that we know nothing.

[killaphill]

8. Trump tweets "all is well"....

And then this. There is more than one way for us to retaliate, and I fear this was one of the ways.

[dalton99a]

11. Kick

[alittlelark]

12. Putin is desperate for this conflict to escalate

He is in a hot war with Ukraine, and has been trying to get them blamed for US election interference etc ...

I am SURE his nasty little fingers are all over this.

[coti]

13. Yeah, this is just bizarre. WTF is going on?? nt

[bullwinkle428]

14. Still not even the slightest mention of it on MSNBC to this point.

[maryellen99]

15. It's on the CNN website nt

[Midnight Writer]

16. This will be blamed on US whether we had anything to do with it or not. Why wouldn't they?

If it was a Saudi jet that went down over the sea, you know our President would immediately declare it an Iranian attack.

[still_one]

53. In 1988 the US shot down flight 655 from the uss vincennes because the US

incorrectly identified the plane

We dont know enough about the current situation to make any conclusion on what occurred

[malaise]

55. +1,000

Planes do crash on take off

[Johnny2X2X]

19. This is horrific.

And of course it would be Ukrainian. It was at 8000 feet and 290 Kts. If this was shot down there is going to be global outrage.

[Hekate]

20. What a coinkydink, I write while reeling in horror. Except as Malcolm Nance says...

There are no coincidences.

[icymist]

21. BBC Iran Affairs correspondent claims this is footage of the plane crashing in flames.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Agschmid]

23. Isn't it daytime in Iran?

ETA: If we believe the flight tracker posted in this thread then the crash happened at 6:15 AM (ish). Sunrise was at 7:15 so maybe the timing of the sky color is correct.

[NutmegYankee]

26. just after dawn now, but when was the crash?

[maryellen99]

27. It happened early in the morning before the sun rose nt

[Agschmid]

30. Apparently about 1 hour before sunrise.

[Tipperary]

31. Yeah, I think it is morning.

CNN correspondents reporting live are in daylight.

[icymist]

32. 02:42 UTC would be 6:12 AM in Iran, just before dawn.

eom

[SidDithers]

25. That looks bad. Need authentication on that video...nt

Sid

[Dennis Donovan]

29. Potential accidental shoot-down by Iran per this UNVERIFIED source

Link to tweet

Original tweet (the source has a blue check, FWIW)

Link to tweet

الحدث ✔ @AlHadath

#إيران — أنباء عن سقوط الطائرة الأوكرانية نتيجة إصابتها بصاروخ إيراني عن طريق الخطأ
Translated from Arabic by Google

#إيران News of the Ukrainian plane crashing as a result of accidentally injuring an Iranian missile

10:58 PM · Jan 7, 2020

[triron]

37. Well now there are casulties albeit innocent people who had nothing to do with this shit.

[killaphill]

39. Yep, all due to Trump's reckless actions

These deaths are on HIS head.

[triron]

40. Very true.

[PatSeg]

41. Oh my, that is awful!

[ecstatic]

22. If it was truly just a tech issue, that's 1 hell of a coincidence

The timing couldn't be more suspicious!

[Johnny2X2X]

28. OMG

If this is real, this is crazy.

[Mme. Defarge]

33. Wonder who was aboard?

[Johnny2X2X]

34. Probably frightened people trying to flee.

This is not a coincidence and will be blamed on the US.

[ecstatic]

35. Appropriately blamed on the US...but why was a flight taking off

in the middle of missile strikes? Did dump's poorly staffed defense department order that it be shot down? Is Russia instigating? What the hell is going on??!

[MustLoveBeagles]

38. Has been confirmed it was us?

[Agschmid]

42. No.

[rictofen]

48. It doesn't need to be

It's already been said to be our fault, regardless of what actually happened.

[muriel_volestrangler]

56. 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, and other nationalities

"According to preliminary information, the plane crashed as a result of an engine failure for technical reasons. Currently, the version of a terrorist attack is ruled out," the embassy said on the Ukraine Foreign Ministry's website.

Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians including all the crew, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Britons and three Germans, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51029994

I guess it would have been flying on to Canada, with that many aboard.

[MustLoveBeagles]

36. Oh shit

This is crazy.

[icymist]

44. Airlines are now announcing to stay out of Iran and Iraq airspace

Asian airlines divert flights from Iranian airspace as Middle East tensions spike
PUBLISHED TUE, JAN 7 20209:10 PM ESTUPDATED 14 MIN AGO
Huileng Tan
@HUILENG_TAN
KEY POINTS
Several Asian airlines on Wednesday said they would be avoiding Iranian airspace.
The announcements came after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against multiple bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/08/singapore-airlines-sia-diverts-flights-from-iranian-airspace.html

FAA: All U.S. airlines banned 'indefinitely' from flying over Iran, Iraq, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/faa-all-u-s-airlines-banned-indefinitely-from-flying-over-iran-iraq-persian-gulf-and-gulf-of-oman

[rictofen]

49. Meanwhile, it's business as usual for a number of other airlines

Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, etc.

I get it, it's a huge area to have to divert around, but hopefully that judgement call works out for all of those passengers and flight crews.

[VMA131Marine]

47. It's quite a coincidence that it was a Ukrainian jet

I really hate coincidences

[ecstatic]

60. Someone on twitter made this point

Iran...and Ukraine...and a Boeing 737?!? Its like 3 months of news packed into one story.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[KY_EnviroGuy]

51. Here's a report from Iran....

Ukrainian airplane crashes near Tehran's Imam Khomeini Int’l Airport
Tehran (ISNA)
8 January 2020 / 08:46

Link: https://en.isna.ir/news/98101813884/Ukrainian-airplane-crashes-near-Tehran-s-Imam-Khomeini-Int-l

(snips)

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines took off from Imam Khomeini international airport at 6.12am Tehran time and went down about eight minutes later.

Spokesman for Imam Khomeini International Airport, Ali Kashani said that the plane bound for Kiev and carrying 176 passengers and crew crashed around Parand, about 60 kilometres south-west of Tehran.
+++++
“After taking off from Imam Khomeini international airport it crashed between Parand and Shahriar,” Jafarzadeh said. “An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced and rescuers are trying to collect the dead”.

Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The plane burning in the sky before crashing in a huge explosion.

KY.........

[stopdiggin]

52. WAY too early for any speculation here

not pointing at the OP. But people in this string are getting way too far out front.

[kentuck]

58. I thought the 737's were taken out of use?

Was that only in this country?

[Takket]

59. 737-MAX, a different model, were removed.