Boeing 737 Ukrainian flight leaving Tehran crashes shortly after takeoff; All 176 passengers, including the pilots, were killed in the crash; Original reports suspected no foul play; Iranian officials are now refusing to turn over the black box to Boeing.

Shortly after Iran released two waves of missiles towards US bases inside of Iraq, a Boeing 737-NG heading to the capital of Ukraine went down right after take-off, killing all 176 passengers, mostly Canadian & Iranian, on board. The plane went down outside Iran’s capital, Tehran. Reports indicate that there was good visibility at the time of the crash and that the flight crew was exceptional.

Original reports believed that a malfunction such as engine failure was the original cause of the crash, but since then, engine failure has been ruled out and nothing has been determined. That being said, Iranian officials are now refusing to hand over the plane’s black box to Boeing for further investigation. The black box of a plane is essentially the flight recorder. The primary purpose of the black box is to record in-flight data for the purpose investigation, should there be an air accident that takes place. Footage of the crash proves that the plane was on fire immediately after takeoff, and just before crashing on the ground, you can see an additional explosion take place on the plane.

Initially, there was no foul play suspected, however, the refusal to hand over the black boxes, which have both been located, raises concern. The head of Iranian Civil Aviation stated, “It is unclear at this point which country the black boxes will go to for the investigation.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized the importance of not jumping to conclusions until a more thorough investigation takes place.