Debris is seen from a plane crash on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2019. A Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed on Wednesday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing all onboard, state TV reported.
A pilot error is unlikely to have caused the crash of Ukraine's Boeing 737 near Tehran, the vice president of operations at the Ukraine International Airlines said Wednesday. "We know, as of today, that the aircraft went to the altitude of 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). The crew mistake is minimal. We simply do not consider it. Considering their experience, it is very hard to say that it could somehow be about the crew," Sputnik quoted vice president of operations at the Ukraine International Airlines sIgor Sosnovsky as saying at a briefing.
He further added that all crew members had enough experience and flight hours to have made any kind of mistake..
According to the Iranian and Ukrainian officials, the crash, which happened shortly after take-off from Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, left no survivors.
Evgeny Dykhne, the company president, said that the crashed aircraft was one of the best at the Ukraine International Airlines.
Dykhne said the company had "no right out to work out its own theories (of what happened)," adding that a special investigative panel was to put forward possible versions.
In the meantime, The Iraqi Prime Ministry said that Iran had notified Iraq shortly after midnight that its response to the killing of its top military commander had begun, and that retaliation would be limited to locations where the U.S. military is present. Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s office said in a statement Wednesday that Iraq was simultaneously informed by the Americans that military bases in Ain al-Asad and Irbil were under missile attack.
The office says it has received no reports of casualties on the Iraqi side and has not been officially notified of any losses among the U.S.-led coalition.
“Iraq refuses any violation of its sovereignty and any attacks on its territory,” the statement said.
It added that Iraq is doing everything in its power to contain the situation to avoid a “devastating all-out war."
Also Read | Soleimani killing: Iran fires multiple missiles at Iraqi bases housing US forces
ALSO READ | Video | Multiple Iranian missiles hit Iraq airbase; locals scream, run for safety
ALSO READ | Trump tweets 'All is well' after Iran bombs Iraqi bases housing US troops, to issue statement later
