BA Boeing Co

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.