Iran retrieves data, cockpit talk from downed Ukraine plane

 An Iranian official says some data, including a portion of cockpit conversations, have been retrieved from downed Ukrainian jetliner.

The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Capt. Touraj Dehghani Zangeneh, made the comment on Sunday. That’s according to a report on the organization’s website, which described his remarks as part of the final report that Tehran plans to issue on the shootdown.

The development comes months after the Jan. 8 crash near Tehran. Authorities had initially denied responsibility, only changing course days later after Western nations presented extensive evidence that Iran had shot down the plane.

The shootdown happened the same night Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting U.S. soldiers in Iraq, its response to the American drone strike that killed Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3.

Zangene said the plane’s black boxes have only 19 seconds of conversation following the first explosion, though the second missile reached the plane 25 seconds later. The report quoting him did not elaborate.

He said the first missile explosion sent shrapnel into the plane, likely disrupting the plane’s recorders.