Ukraine at ICAO calls on Iran to immediately hand over flight recorders of downed UIA plane

 “The ICAO Council. The first ever video conference [meeting]. I have just had an opportunity to speak on behalf of Ukraine on the flight PS752. Iran's delay in handing over the "black boxes" is disrespect to the families of the victims and to the International Civil Aviation Organization itself. Rules and trust are important for ICAO's effectiveness. Blocking of the investigation deprives us of both,” Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko posted on Facebook.

He added that Iran is expected to deliver a speech by the end of the current session, which will last until June 26. "We urge Tehran to keep its promises and call on ICAO to use all mechanisms of influence for the investigation to be swift and of high-quality. We will achieve justice," the ambassador said.

The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane (flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after it took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on January 8. There were 176 people on board – nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). They all died.

Iran's official in the International Civil Aviation Organization agreed in March to hand over the black box flight recorders to France or Ukraine for analysis, but this has not been done so far.

Six people charged with the downing of flight PS752 were detained in Iran.

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