Iranian missiles could have shot down Ukraine flight by mistake, report US sources

As per new investigations that have surfaced, sources report that the Ukraine plane crash could have very well been caused by an Iran Missile that might have hit it accidentally. A Ukrainian aircraft with at least 176 people aboard crashed on January 8 just after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport. Iran around the same time had fired a series of ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq that housed American troops. While an initial probe suggested that the plane crash was due to technical glitches, Sky News reported that Downing Street is looking into reports suggesting that the Ukrainian jet was shot down by missile instead. 

Read: Iran officials reveal Ukrainian plane had turned back after detecting problem

Mystery surrounding the black-box

Sources within the Pentagon in the US also seem to harbor similar concerns. A Pentagon official, a senior U.S. intelligence official and an Iraqi intelligence official told Newsweek that the Ukrainian flight was actually struck by an anti-aircraft missile system. What was suspicious was that after the Iranian authorities found two black boxes of the crashed Ukraine International Airlines they decided that these would not be handed over to the manufacturer Boeing. A detailed examination of the black box data could help reveal the actual cause of the plane crash.  

Read: 'Deeply saddened': UN chief condoles death of 176 passengers in Ukrainian plane crash

Iran reports 'a technical glitch' 

Three other official sources told the Newsweek that the aircraft is believed to have been struck by a Russia-built Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile system, known to NATO as Gauntlet. The Iranian investigations had suggested that the plane was initially headed west to leave the airport zone but then turned right following a glitch and was headed back to the airport at the moment of the crash. The organisation further said that the plane disappeared from radar screens the moment it reached 8,000 feet though the pilot sent no radio message about the unusual circumstances.

Read: Bodies being recovered at site of Iran plane crash

Read: Iran says Ukrainian plane was on fire, tried to turn back