n a surprise move, the Iranian armed forces says it accidentally shot down a Boeing 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines on 8 January. The admission comes after several days of repeated denials from Tehran that it had anything to do with the loss of flight PS752, an incident that killed 176 people. The nation now says that the aircraft was shot down by a missile battery manned by jumpy soldiers nervous about possible American air strikes. Iran was expecting air strikes in retaliation for a ballistic missile strike it launched hours earlier against US soldiers in Iraq. Its ballistic missile launch was itself retaliation for the USA’s assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed by a US drone strike partly in retaliation for orchestrating attacks on the US embassy in Bagdad. “Following the threats of the [US] President and the commanders [of the] military American criminal mob, in the hours after the missile strikes US terrorist forces’ warplanes around the country increased, and some reports of airstrikes targeting strategic centres in the country were reported to numerous defence units and targets on some radar plates,” the Iranian armed forces say in a media release posted to the country’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. “It has caused more sensitivity in air defence units.” The Iranian armed forces claim that after the Boeing 737 left Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport it began to fly a rotation that put it in “close proximity to a sensitive military centre of the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps].” The aircraft was “the height and shape of a hostile aircraft,” says the Iranian military. “In these circumstances, the plane was accidentally hit by a human error, which unfortunately results in the martyrdom of dear compatriots and the death of a number of foreign nationals,” it says. The admission of fault comes after several days of denials and insistence the aircraft had suffered unspecified mechanical problems. Tehran had said the missile attack allegation was “scientifically impossible”. However, circumstances surrounding the downing of the airliner were highly suspicious. After taking off, the Boeing 737 climbed to 8,000ft, but then quickly lost altitude and crashed into the ground while on fire. Pilots made no distress calls from the cockpit. Also, video on social media quickly surfaced of a missile flying through the night sky and striking an airliner in the area of the crash. As those pieces of information began to emerge many expert observers began to suspect exactly what Iran is admitting now: an ill-trained missile unit under high stress, and poorly coordinated with civilian aviation authorities, mistakenly shot down flight PS752. Experts believe the aircraft was shot down by a Russian-made short-range Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile battery. Iran pledges to carry “out major reforms in [the] operational processes” of its armed forces “make such errors impossible” in the future. The country offered “condolences” and “apologises for the human error.”

Source: Cirium

Dubai International Airport has issued this statement:



Dubai Airports confirms that operations at Dubai International (DXB) continue to be hampered by the knock-on effects of water-logging caused by heavy rainfall earlier today which has resulted in a number of flight delays, cancellations and diversions. We continue to work closely with our service partners to clear the backlog, restore full operations and minimise the inconvenience to our customers. However, with additional rain expected later this evening, the disruption is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. Accordingly, customers are advised to check directly with their airlines for more specific flight information and allow additional time to get to the airport.

Source: World Airline News

Canadian and US officials believe Iranian military forces, possibly by mistake, shot down the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 that crashed outside Tehran on 8 January, killing 176 people. “The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tells reporters on 9 January. Canada reached that conclusion, which Iran has denied, after reviewing “intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence.” The crash of Ukraine flight PS752 came in the tense hours after Iran launched missile strikes against US-occupied bases in Iraq, a response to the US military’s killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Trudeau adds that Iran’s actions may have been “unintentional” or “accidental”, but stresses that officials remain uncertain about circumstances surrounding the alleged missile strike. Canada’s assessment aligns with that of US officials, who told news outlets on 9 January that a surface-to-air missile downed the 737. US officials said heat signatures from two surface-to-air missiles had been detected immediately prior to an explosion near where the aircraft was flying, according to reports. Trudeau says the conclusion that Iranian military forces downed the aircraft “reconfirms the need for a thorough investigation” into the crash. Canadian foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has already told his Iranian counterpart that “Canadian officials must immediately be granted access to Iran, to be granted consular services, to identify victims and participate in a thorough investigation”, Trudeau says. He says Iran has expressed “an openness to Canadian involvement in the investigation from the beginning”. But Trudeau provides no confirmation of Canada’s involvement, and Iran has said it intends to keep the aircraft’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders within its borders. The aircraft took off from Tehran at 06:13 local time on 8 January and climbed westward to 8,000ft before disappearing from radar, Iran has said. Purported video of the crash shows a fiery object, breaking apart and falling from the sky. Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said it is “scientifically impossible” that a missile downed the aircraft, noting close cooperation between Iran’s civil and military sectors. Prime minister Trudeau says he has spoken to Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte about the Netherlands’ experience investigating the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in 2014. Dutch investigators determined a Russian missile downed that aircraft, a 777-200. On Thursday, some European airlines decided to aviod Iran airspace altogether as a precautionary measure. Lufthansa’s daily direct flight from Frankfurt to Teheran, LH600, was turned around over Romaina and is currently returning to Germany. Austrian Airlines flight OS871 from Vienna to Teheran landed in Sofia, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Source: Cirium