TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - UPDATE: An Iranian emergency official says a crash has killed all those on board a Ukrainian commercial airliner that took off from Tehran. Pir Hossein Kulivand made the comment Wednesday morning after the crash. He said rescuers were trying to collect the dead. The plane went down in farmland outside of Iran's capital, Tehran. Authorities initially blamed a mechanical problem for the crash.
A Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed Wednesday near an airport in the capital, Tehran, state TV reported. There was no immediate word on casualties.
The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, the report said. The crash is suspected to have been caused by mechanical issues, it added, without elaborating.
An investigation team was at the site of the crash in southwestern outskirts of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said.
"After taking off from Imam Khomeini international airport it crashed between Parand and Shahriar," Jafarzadeh said. "An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced."
State TV earlier said there were 180 passengers and crew aboard. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled.
Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
The Boeing 737-800 is a very common single-aisle, twin-engine jetliner used for short to medium-range flights. Thousands of the planes are used by airlines around the world.Introduced in the late 1990s, it is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months following two deadly crashes.A number of 737-800 aircraft have been involved in deadly accidents over the years.In March 2016, a Flydubai 737-800 from Dubai crashed while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia, killing 62 onboard. Another 737-800 flight from Dubai, operated by Air India Express, crashed in May 2010 while trying to land in Mangalore, India, killing more than 150 onboard.
