A Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines has crashed due to technical problems after take-off from Iran’s Imam Khomeini airport with 170 passengers and crew aboard, the semi-official Fars news agency tweeted on Wednesday.
A Kiev-bound Ukrainian Boeing 737 with at least 170 people on board, crashed on Wednesday shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital city of Tehran.
Ali Khashani, a senior public relations official at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, said the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 went down in the vicinity of Parand, a city in Robat Karim county, reports Press TV.
He said the crash was likely due to technical difficulties, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Rescue teams have been sent to the crash site, said Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, adding that the number of people onboard was 170 and not 180 as previously reported.
Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s emergency services, added that “the plane is on fire but we have sent crews… And we may be able to save some passengers.”
Flight radar information showed that the plane abruptly disappeared just after 6 a.m.
Flight-tracking service FlightRadar 24 said in a tweet that the jet had been in service for about three and a half years.
A Boeing spokesperson told CNN they are “aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information.”
The crash takes place just days before the company’s new CEO David Calhoun will formally take the job. Calhoun replaces Dennis Muilenburg, who was ousted in December after Boeing’s disastrous year.
The American aviation giant is still reeling from the aftermath of two 737 Max crashes, which killed 346 people. The Max has been grounded worldwide since March, and the company has struggled with delays and other issues in its bid to get the planes back in the air.