Ukrainian Airlines Says Had No Reason to Cancel Flight 752 From Tehran

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2020) There was no reason to cancel the Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) Flight 752, which crashed on the route from Tehran to Kiev, and the plane did not divert from its course after the takeoff, UIA said on Saturday, adding that Iran should have closed down the airport if missile attacks were planned.

"Flights by civilian planes are carried out on the basis of permits of two countries - the country to which the airline operates flights [Iran in this case] ... and the state aviation service of the country under the flag of which the company operates flights [Ukraine in this case]. At the time of departure from the Boryspil airport [Kiev], the airline had no information about possible threats. At the time [of departure] from Tehran's airport, the airline also had absolutely no information, and no decisions from the responsible administrations were sent to us," UIA President Yevhen Dykhne said during a press conference.

UIA Vice President Igor Sosnovsky further noted that there were no diversions from the course following the take-off, despite some speculations.

Sosnovsky also claimed that Iran should have closed its airport if they were planning to use missiles.

"They [Iranian authorities] had to [shut down the airport], if they were shooting somewhere, they had to close the airport," Sosnovsky said at a briefing.

Apart from that, Dykhne said that the majority of victims would be buried in Iran. He stated that although many passengers had different passports, "they come from Iran and their relatives are there."

UIA Flight 752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early Wednesday hours claiming the lives of all 176 people on board. Earlier on Saturday, Tehran admitted that the Ukrainian plane had been unintentionally shot down by the Iranian military as they were waiting for a possible retaliatory attack from the United States.