Iran to send black boxes to Ukraine from downed jet

World Sunday 19/January/2020 11:38 AM
By: Times News Service
Iran to send black boxes to Ukraine from downed jet

Iran agreed Saturday to send the black boxes to Ukraine from the passenger jet the Islamic Republic unintentionally shot down last week.

Hassan Rezaeifer, the lead director of accident investigations for the civil aviation department, said it was not possible to interpret the recordings in Iran, without giving further details as to why.

The Iranian official said the objective was to read the information on the black boxes in Kyiv "with the use of the expertise of the countries of France, Canada and America."

According to Iranian news agency Tasnim, Rezaeifer said: "If this effort is unsuccessful then the black box will be sent to France," adding that the recordings were being sent to Kyiv following requests from Ukrainian experts in Tehran.

Pay the price

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been calling for a full investigation into the accident, insisting Iran should send the black boxes to France for further analysis.

The victims included 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 17 Swedish citizens, four Afghans and four from the UK.

The majority of those who perished in the crash were from Iran. The other four nations who had victims have demanded Tehran accept full responsibility, as well as pay compensation to the relatives of those that died in the tragedy.

The plane was a Boeing 737-800 that was designed and constructed in the United States. The engine was designed by CFM International, a joint operation between French group Safran and US group GE Aviation.