737-800 down; 176 killed

[CYXR 257]

All 176 passengers and nine crew members on board the Boeing 737-800 aircraft were killed. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-among-176-killed-in-passenger-plane-crash-in-iran-1.4757783

This is sad all around for families, loved ones... and Boeing.

 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

The flight path:
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/ukrainian-flight-ps752-crashes-shortly-after-take-off-from-tehran/

 

[Quasimodo 505]

I heard an aviation expert today say that the debris field was indicative of the aircraft braking up in the air, I know we shouldn't speculate about what happened but I know what my gut feeling is.

[vc10man 732]

4 hours ago, Avidean said:

I know what my gut feeling is.

Same here

[stans 702]

I saw some pictures that appeared to show a multitude of punctures over parts of the tail, fuselage and wing.  I know what my gut is telling me about that.

[Erv Moore 21]

Being an old aircraft engine maintainer & investigator, initial appearance of field, have to agree with above. But speculation is never good, we may never know for sure about this one. Sad!!!

[Chuck_Jodry-VJPL 663]

These holes through the wing have the shape of turbine blades and should that be the case its conceivable a catastrophic failure caused a massive fuel leak and fire , can be caused by ingesting a rock or other debris on takeoff .  The shrapnel marks seen from a missile are typically more numerous and smaller .

My condolences to the families and people involved , a curiously large number of Canadian engineers were on board .

 

Best CJ

[Jim Young 2,356]

I heard Iran is not going to turn the black boxes over to Boeing so they can try to determine the cause of the crash.  I know what my gut is telling me about that.

[mikealpha 266]

55 minutes ago, Jim Young said:

I heard Iran is not going to turn the black boxes over to Boeing so they can try to determine the cause of the crash.  

That's quite normal, e.g. also in the case of the Ethiopian 737Max crash the Black Boxes have been investigated in France initially, and have not been given to Boeing either. For good reason apparently. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by mikealpha

[n4gix 4,947]

If you haven't seen it yet, here is a link to a video of the plane on-fire as it falls from the sky and then explodes as it hits the ground. What a terrifying 34 seconds!

From the direction of flight and occlusion from the fuselage, it would appear the starboard engine was on fire.

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv/status/1214756252749877250

Just now on the news a "credible source" stated that a spy satellite shows evidence that the aircraft was mistakenly targeted by a missile. Personally I find it somewhat suspicious that anyone just happened to capture this on his cellphone camera at the very instant the aircraft was on fire and crashing. It is also suspicious that this occurred at the same time as Iran fired missiles at the two airbases in Iraq.

I won't bother translating what the cameraman was saying in Farsi, as it was mostly variations on "word not allowed" anyway...

[cepact 517]

Video of missile hitting the plane:

https://twitter.com/Roman_012/status/1215335999997448195?s=20

 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

Very sad to see this is looking like it was deliberate, a lot of Persian-Canadians on board that flight and Canada has a very large Persian population. To be honest you can't live in a city in Canada and not have a Persian friend, I had quite a few when I used to live there and shared an office with a very cool guy from Iran, as well as an ex-girlfriend from my younger days. 

The turbulent relations with Iran has been going on since 1979 and this is just another chapter in that book. Very sad

[F737MAX 5,553]

31 minutes ago, cepact said:

Video of missile hitting the plane:

https://twitter.com/Roman_012/status/1215335999997448195?s=20

Entirely rules out 'mechanical issue' and even a 'catastrophic failure', if this video is indeed genuine.

These reports (again, if true), would also suggest cover-up:
https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1215335543464235008

What a waste of life.

Edited January 9, 2020 by F737NG

[Quasimodo 505]

This is a horrible day for Canada

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

According to this, looks like an accidental shoot down.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukrainian-airplane-shot-down-by-mistake-by-iranian-anti-aircraft-missile-pentagon-officials-believe