By Georgi Kantchev in Kyiv and Aresu Eqbali in Tehran
Tehran gave Ukrainian investigators access Friday to the
so-called black-box data and cockpit voice recorders from the
Ukraine International Airlines airliner that crashed Wednesday, and
Iranian investigators said they would be willing to hand them over
to other countries as well for analysis.
Iran's willingness to cooperate could help resolve an
investigation that looked to be especially fraught, given the open
hostilities between the U.S. and Tehran. Indeed, immediately after
the crash, Iranian officials told local media that Iran's civil
aviation authority wouldn't provide Boeing Co. or the U.S. access
to the black boxes from the Boeing 737-800 jet.
Iranian officials since have invited investigators from Boeing,
the U.S., Ukraine, France and Canada to probe the causes of
Wednesday's crash, which killed all 176 people on board shortly
after the jet took off from Tehran, including a number of
Canadians.
Just hours before the jet crashed, Iran had launched missile
strikes against two bases in Iraq housing U.S. troops in
retaliation for the targeted U.S. killing of Iranian Maj. Gen.
Qassem Soleimani.
Tehran has denied claims by U.S., Canadian and U.K. officials
that the single-aisle jet was downed by a missile system fired by
Iran, possibly by mistake.
While Ukraine hasn't reached a conclusion as to the cause, the
country's main counterintelligence and antiterrorism agency said
Friday that officials are focusing on two main explanations: a
missile hit or a terrorist attack. A Ukrainian official familiar
with the probe said a missile is the leading theory. Kyiv expects
to reach a conclusion on the cause with a high degree of certainty
within two weeks, the official said.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko, told reporters
Friday that so far Iran has granted full access for Ukraine to
conduct its investigation. A team of 45 Ukrainian experts and
officials is on the ground in Tehran, Ukrainian officials said.
The group has gained access to the black boxes but hadn't
started examining them, Mr. Prystaiko told reporters. Ukraine wants
the recorders to be analyzed in Kyiv and is in talks with Iran over
the matter. The team also is analyzing pieces of the plane and
chemical compounds on the wreckage.
The Iranian investigation team said Friday it would first seek
to analyze the black boxes in Iran. They could also be examined in
Russia, Ukraine, France or Canada, four countries that had
expressed a readiness to help, Iranian investigators said.
"If we can do it ourselves, we will," Ali Abedzadeh, head of
Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said during a news conference
in Tehran. "If not, we will definitely ask for assistance from
other countries."
U.S. industry and government officials say the Iranians have the
ability to conduct routine downloads of black-box recorders, but
are skeptical they have the technical expertise and experience to
extract data from damaged devices.
Obtaining reliable data from such recorders, they said, requires
specialized equipment, advanced laboratory facilities and staff
with a record of dealing with unusual circumstances.
A U.S. official said that before the crash, the plane was
tracked by Iranian radar used to aim missiles and was then hit by a
Russian-made SA-15 surface-to-air missile system.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S.
believed it was "likely" the Ukrainian airliner was shot down by an
Iranian missile, and added that the U.S. would permit American
investigators to travel to Iran to assist in the inquiry.
"We are going to let the investigation play out before we make a
final determination," Mr. Pompeo said. "It is important we get to
the bottom of it."
U.S. officials have shared information about the crash with
Ukraine that will help the investigation, President Volodymyr
Zelensky said Friday.
Ukraine's prosecutor general's office on Friday asked the U.S.,
Canada, Australia and the U.K. to share information and said it is
conducting a criminal inquiry into the crash. Mr. Prystaiko, the
foreign minister, said Ukraine will demand the prosecution of those
responsible if it is confirmed that Iran shot down the plane.
Iran's Mr. Abedzadeh called on Western officials to make public
their missile-strike allegations via the Montreal-based
International Civil Aviation Organization, a global body that sets
conventions for air-accident investigations.
The plane was aflame as it attempted to return to Imam Khomeini
International Airport, he said. That indicated it wasn't shot down
by a missile, he said.
It isn't yet clear how much of a role U.S. investigators will
play. U.S. sanctions on Iran mean Americans investigators need
clearance from Washington to visit the Middle East state.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the U.S. entity tasked
with transport-accident investigations, said it is monitoring the
situation and evaluate its level of participation. Boeing has
started preparing the necessary paperwork and has been in touch
with both the State and Commerce departments, The Wall Street
Journal reported Thursday.
In the normal course of an investigation, some level of
participation would also be expected from the Federal Aviation
Administration and General Electric Co., which made the plane's
engines with a French joint-venture partner.
Canada -- which said late Friday it lost 57 citizens in the
crash, down from its earlier statement of 63 -- has vowed to work
with international partners to ensure it is thoroughly
investigated. Iran said Friday a 10-member Canadian team was
heading to the country to manage the affairs of its citizens killed
in the crash.
France's aviation safety agency, the BEA, has appointed a
preliminary representative to Iran's investigation into the crash,
but hasn't been asked for assistance in the investigation. The U.K.
issued an advisory to airlines against operating in airspace over
both Iraq and Iran.
If the inquiry verifies that an Iranian missile brought down the
plane, it wouldn't be the first time tensions between the U.S. and
Iran have led to an aviation tragedy. In 1988, the U.S. Navy's
Vincennes warship downed Iran Air Flight 655 with an air-defense
missile.
U.S. officials said they mistook the Airbus SE A300 airliner for
a warplane they feared would attack the ship. All 290 people,
mostly Iranian, on the plane died, prompting an outpouring of
national grief in Iran.
Rory Jones and Sune Engel Rasmussen contributed to this
article.
Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 10, 2020 19:05 ET (00:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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