- A passenger jet crashed shortly after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport with at least 170 passengers and crew aboard, IRNA, Iran's state news agency, said on Tuesday evening.
- It's unclear at this stage what caused the crash.
- The plane reported to have crashed is a Boeing 737-800, is the previous generation of Boeing's 737 family of jets. The current generation, the 737 Max, has been grounded worldwide since March, 2019.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A passenger jet crashed shortly after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport with at least 170 passengers and crew aboard, IRNA, Iran's state news agency, said on Tuesday evening.
IRNA reported that the plane, flown by Ukraine International Airlines, was a Boeing 737-800.
The plane was headed from Tehran to Kiev, according to IRNA. Emergency Department spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi told the agency the plane was carrying 170 passengers and crew members.
Video posted to Twitter by Iranian news agency ISNA, which it described as the "first video of Ukrainian plane crashing near Shahriar," appeared to show a plane rapidly descending, followed by an explosion on the ground.
نخستین ویدئو از سقوط هواپیمای اوکراینی اطراف شهریار pic.twitter.com/M3bZiLLryQ
— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) January 8, 2020
Ukraine International Airlines operates a daily flight from Tehran to Kyiv, PS752. Data from flight tracking service FlightRadar24 appeared to show PS752 departing from Tehran, with communication with the plane being lost approximately three minutes later. Business Insider was unable to independently verify that flight PS752 was the plane that crashed.
The plane reported to have crashed, a Boeing 737-800, is the previous generation of Boeing's 737 family of jets. The current generation, the 737 Max, has been grounded worldwide since March, 2019, following the second of two fatal crashes caused by a faulty flight control system. Both 737 Max crashes occurred within minutes of take-off.
There was no further information immediately available. There was no further detail on the suspected cause of the crash.
Photos published by IRNA show first responders at the scene of the crash.
Photo by #Iran's official news agency IRNA showing first responders at the location of the plane crash.
— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) January 8, 2020
The Kyiv-bound #Ukraine International Flight 752, with around 180 onboard, crashed near Parand shortly after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. pic.twitter.com/heMsPQB8RM
FlightRadar24 posted an image of the plane's flight path to Twitter, showing the plane crashing shortly after takeoff.
We are following reports that a Ukrainian 737-800 has crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran. #PS752 departed Tehran at 02:42UTC. Last ADS-B data received at 02:44UTC. https://t.co/qXWHUPGDTu pic.twitter.com/vuAi6TOqTp
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 8, 2020
It is unclear at this stage if there are any survivors.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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