Tensions in region could complicate investigation of ‘heartbreaking tragedy’
Air crash investigations are often complex puzzles. But solving the riddle of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 promises to be especially challenging.
Indeed, there are already questions whether the true cause will be ever known.
The Boeing 737-800 crashed barely two minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s airport en route to Kyiv. The majority of the 176 people on board were headed for Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the loss “indescribable,” a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Our government will continue to work closely with its partners to ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated. Canadians have questions. They deserve answers,” the prime minister told a Wednesday news conference.
But making good on that vow is complicated by the heightened tensions in the region — the crash came just after Iran launched missiles at Iraqi military facilities housing U.S. and coalition forces, including Canadians.
And it’s complicated by Canada’s own strained relations with Iran that saw the closure of the Canadian Embassy in Tehran in 2012, meaning that Ottawa has no diplomatic presence in the country.
Under international protocols, Iran will lead the crash probe, but it’s typical to see the manufacturer of the aircraft and engines involved along with agencies of the various countries whose citizens were on board. But there are questions around the involvement of western crash investigators and even Boeing. Already there are signs of tensions. Iranian authorities say they have retrieved the jet’s black boxes but there are reports they are refusing to share that critical data, which has cockpit audio and information about the aircraft’s systems and its flight path, with Boeing. “In order determine the cause, we need information. That’s what’s missing,” federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday.
“One of the sources of information is of course the black boxes. That could give us information on what was happening on the plane,” he said.
“We’re scrambling to get as much information as we can but it’s going to take a little while to get some of those answers,” he said.
Transport Canada has offered assistance to both Ukraine and Iran. So too has the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which is recognized for its expertise in reading black boxes. “We think that we can contribute and can help to get the answers necessary to determine the cause,” Garneau said.
What is known so far only adds to the mystery. The jet, a Boeing 737-800 NG, was relatively new, delivered to the airline in 2016. It was serviced just days before the accident. Its pilots had thousands of hours of experience. In fact there was an additional captain on board serving as an instructor pilot. There’s very little chance the cause was pilot error, the airline claimed Wednesday.
Satellite tracking suggests Boeing 737 took off in a normal fashion, a “very, very standard departure,” Garneau told reporters. “However we lost contact with it, suggesting something very unusual happened but we cannot speculate at this point,” he said.
Trudeau said he could not rule out that a hostile act brought down the plane, given how the crash occurred so soon after the Iranian missile attack, but strongly cautioned against speculation.
Ukraine’s embassy in Iran issued an initial statement saying the plane crashed because of a “technical failure of the engine,” apparently ruling out military action or terror attack. However that statement was later deleted and replaced by one that said the causes of the crash were “being clarified.”
Veteran Canadian accident investigator Larry Vance said the outcome of the probe depends on the “competence” of the investigation.
“Just because we’re not there, doesn’t mean it can’t be a competent investigation. But us being there would certainly add to the overall credibility … it would add expertise,” he said in an interview.
But he said the onus is on Iranian officials to conduct an open and independent investigation. “If they don’t allow transparency, if they don’t allow participation by all the people who would normally be there, they leave themselves completely open to challenges to the credibility of the investigation,” Vance said.
“They’re not off to a good start saying they won’t share the black box information,” he said.
He said Iran should pursue two parallel investigations. The first is a criminal investigation to look at the possibility that a projectile, an on board explosive device or even passengers were responsible for the crash. “Those kind of criminal activities are something you would be looking for whether it was in Iran or it was in Canada. That’s standard procedure,” he said.
The other investigation would examine other potential causes of the accident, such as mechanical failures, operational problems, weather or pilot error, he said.
Conservative MP James Bezan urged Iranian authorities to open up the investigation to countries that lost citizens in the crash as well the plane’s manufacturer, Boeing.
“I would encourage the Iranian regime to co-operate, despite the regional tensions. They need to be fulsome in the investigation,” he said in an interview. “It is important that we get down to answers so that the families can have some closure. “We have a human tragedy that just occurred. They better be co-operating and showing good faith to the international community,” Bezan said, noting that the aircraft was relatively new and that the airline has a good safety record.
The lack of a consular presence in Iran also complicates the logistics of dealing with the disaster, such as repatriating the bodies of Canadian victims. Canada has an agreement with Italy to provide consular services in Iran and Trudeau said that Italian officials have offered assistance as have France and Australia.
Trudeau said Canada is preparing consular teams to send to Iran, subject to conversations with Iranian officials.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne will be speaking with the Iranian foreign minister to convey the need for a “thorough investigation,” Trudeau said.
“We expect to have a role in this investigation. Canadians will be asking for answers and we are there to support and find out the truth,” he said.
The prime minister said he’s confident that the families and governments will ultimately find out the cause.
“I believe there is a clear need for answers … many of the citizens on that airplane were Iranian citizens as well. There’s a desire by everyone to see what actually happened,” he said.