TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2020) Canada's Transportation Safety board (TSB) said in a press release that its investigators have concluded work in Iran and Ukraine in the aftermath of the Ukrainian International Airlines jet crash outside Tehran that killed 86 Canadian nationals and permanent residents.
"The TSB's two investigators have completed their work in Tehran and Kiev and will soon be heading home to Canada," the release said on Thursday.
The TSB also said Canada will deploy a second team of investigators to Iran with expertise in flight data recording.
Iranian officials granted Canadian investigators special privileges, providing the TSB access to the crash site and inviting Canadian investigators to participate in the download of the flight data.
However, Canada seeks an accredited status, which would allow for increased involvement in the investigation.
According to the statement, the two Canadian investigators spent six days in Iran where they met with officials from Iran's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), examined the crash site and the wreckage.
The TSB said that AAIB investigators were cooperative and helpful in their interactions with Canadian officials.
The investigators also spent this week in Kiev holding joint meetings with the AAIB and the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine (NBAAI) to discuss the possibility of downloading the black box data in Ukraine.
On January 8, Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 was shot down shortly after taking off from Tehran. The 167 passengers - including 57 Canadian citizens and 29 permanent residents - and nine Ukrainian crew members were killed in the incident.
