Canada, Iran divided over who should examine downed airliner's black boxes

Iran reportedly said that it had asked authorities from France and the United States for the required equipment to download data from the two black boxes of the downed Ukraine International Airlines aircraft that claimed 176 lives. According to reports, Iran's request has not gone down well with countries who want the black boxes to be analysed on foreign land. According to reports, the Canadian Prime Minister has said that Iran did not possess the ability to analyse the downloaded information and said that the black boxes should be sent to France. However, Kyiv wants the recorders to be sent to Ukraine.

According to reports, an official of the Iranian aviation body on January 18 said that the black boxes would be sent to Ukraine but a day later after the statements, the official backtracked and said that the data will be analysed in Iran. On January 20, Iran's Civil Aviation Organization said that if they are given the required equipment then it will be possible for them to download the data and reconstruct the series of events that took place in a short period of time. The aviation body said that a prepared list had been dispatched to the United States National Transportation Safety Board and France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis agency(BEA). 

However, both the countries have not given a positive response in relation to them sending the equipment to Iran. According to reports, delay in sending the black boxes may result in Iran is subject to intense criticism after "accidentally" shooting down the plane on January 8 that claimed the lives of 176 people.

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Iran takes full responsibility

A senior Iranian air force commander took the "full responsibility" for the missile attack that downed a Ukraine International flight. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), addressed the media in Tehran on January 11 and said he “wished he was dead” upon learning of the Ukrainian jet downing. Iran's Prime Minister Hassan Rouhani apologised for Iran's terrible mistake.

Ukraine International Airlines releases statement

A statement by Ukraine International Airlines read "the airline while operating flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv disappeared from the radars just after few minutes it took off from Tehran International Airport". The statement further added that "the aircraft departed from Tehran International Airport at 6:10am (Iran local time) on January 8." According to reports, there were 176 passengers and 9 crew members aboard the flight.

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(With inputs from agencies)