APD | Iran to send black boxes of downed plane to Ukraine

Iran is all set to send the black boxes of the unintentionally shot downed Ukrainian passenger plane to Kiev, local media reported Sunday morning.

Iranian authorities are also preparing for experts from France, Canada and the United States to inspect the data from the boxes, said the reports.

All 176 people aboard the plane were killed when the Ukrainian International Airlines flight was shot down on Jan. 8 by Iranian air defense shortly after take-off from Tehran for the Ukrainian capital.

"With the use of expertise from France, Canada and America, we will try to read the (flight data recorders) in Kiev," Hassan Rezaeifar, a director in charge of accident investigations at Iran's Civil Aviation Organization was quoted as saying by the local media.

"If this effort is unsuccessful, then the black box will be sent to France,” adding that the black boxes will not be read in Iran, Rezaeifar said.

Earlier on Friday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the black box flight recorders from onboard the Ukrainian International Airlines flight suffered “significant damage.”

According to the reports, 57 victims of the tragic event had Canadian nationality.

Trudeau called for a full investigation into the plane crash and urged Iran to send the black boxes to France for analysis.

The plane was shot down amid escalating military tensions between Iran and the United States as the former was on high alert for possible retaliatory action after it attacked U.S. bases in Iraq.

Earlier on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned against any attempt at taking political advantage of the tragedy.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)