Jingsamichty

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51029994

Very sad news. There were 176 people on board the flight from Tehran to Kyiv, of whom 63 were Canadians. That's an unusually high number?

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 built in 2016, last serviced 2 days ago.

scrubbedexpat091

Wow we posted the same thing at the same exact time it seems.

Quite sad indeed.

riv

Not really on the sad topic of the 'plane crash ~but what surprised me was the large no. of westerners ( not only 60 plus Canadians but also 3 ( ! ) UK ) who are still travelling to a country where Westerners ( including dual passport holders ) are subject to utterly arbitrary arrest and detention at the whim of the authorities; and where teenage boys are hanged from lampposts for experimenting with their sexuality.

One of the most disgusting, vile, murderous régimes that has ever existed, and people still choose to visit ?

Jingsamichty

Mods - please could you merge threads?

spouse of scouse

One of the reports I read (Guardian I think) suggested that many of the Canadians will be dual Iran nationals, apparently the airline offers comparatively cheap flights to Toronto via Kyiv. An absolute tragedy.

Pulaski

I believe that the answer is in the link you provided, in the fifth paragraph under the "Who was on board?" sub heading.

Jingsamichty

Yes, so most likely to be Iranian emigrants with Canadian citizenship travelling back to Iran, as opposed to Canadian tourists to Iran.

magnumpi

Very sad, and also a 737, not same type as Max 8 but that crash won’t doing Boeing any favours

Jingsamichty

The footage shows the plane falling out of the sky on fire. Almost as if it had been shot down... and no mayday call?

Looking at FlightRadar24 it appears to have been a perfectly normal takeoff and climb (the data stops at approx. 8,000 feet, some 2.5 minutes after takeoff). What kind of engine failure could cause the entire plane to just fall out of the sky? These planes can fly perfectly well on one engine alone - even with no engines it would glide down, after a fashion - not just plummet. Whatever caused this crash has obviously compromised the wing(s).

magnumpi

Cant rule out a shoe or baggage bomb just yet.

lets see what develops

Jingsamichty

At the risk of seeming heartless, I hope it was a bomb or a missile... I commute to work on a 737-800 (not my own, I hasten to add) and it would be a nightmare if they were all grounded like the 737-MAX has been.

Pulaski

If it's any sort of bomb, missile, or even sabotage, it's a pretty strange target, with there being overwhelmingly Iranian citizens on board .... unless it's a false flag attack and blame is going to be placed on the US?

Paul_Shepherd

Very very sad news.... just found out that the ex wife and two children of an Iranian colleague who I worked with were on that flight.....sort of hammers home the reality of it all....I cant begin to imagine how he feels now.....devastated doesn't even begin to describe it.

I cant imagine it being shot down....as some have said on here...why? its a very strange target, and makes no sense.

Jingsamichty

Or a mistake?

Paul_Shepherd

But if so, what would have been the intended target?