TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2020) No decision has been made on where data from the black boxes of the ill-fated Ukrainian International Airlines' Boeing 737-800 will be downloaded, Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) Chair Kathy Fox told the СВС broadcaster on Saturday.
"We've been reassured by the Iranian [Aircraft] Accident Investigation Bureau that we can participate in the download and investigation of the black boxes, when that's going to happen and where that's going to happen, we don't know," Fox said, adding that she hopes the issue can be resolved soon.
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a growing international consensus to analyze the black boxes in France, however, now Ukraine is being suggested as a possible location for the download of the flight data recorders.
According to the TSB chief, the previously reported technical problems with decoding the data in Iran are at issue. Fox clarified that the black boxes had been damaged and may require American parts. However, the United States maintains a sanctions regime against Iran, which may complicate the delivery of the parts to the Islamic Republic.
Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport minutes after takeoff on January 8. The crash took the lives of all 176 passengers and crew members on board, among them citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Several days later, the Iranian military admitted to unintentionally shooting down the jetliner, having confused it with a hostile cruise missile.
