Passengers of Ukrainian Aircraft Had Unbuckled from Seats Before Missile Impact

The head of Ukraine’s forensic medicine department stated that the bodies of passengers on the Tehran-Kyiv flight were found without seats, meaning passengers had unbuckled their seatbelts and risen from their places. He considers this evidence of panic in the cabin before the missile strike.

The head of Ukraine’s forensic medicine department and member of the country’s forensic medical research center stated that based on evidence obtained, passengers of flight PS752 Tehran-Kyiv had risen from their seats before the missile struck the aircraft.

Aleksandr Rovin said in an interview with a Ukrainian newspaper: “When an airplane takes off, all passengers must fasten their seatbelts. This rule must be enforced from an altitude of two thousand meters until the aircraft reaches eight thousand meters, and as a result, all passengers must keep their seatbelts fastened until reaching eight thousand meters.”

The aircraft crashed before reaching an altitude of eight thousand meters.

The head of Ukraine’s forensic medicine department continued: “This was while the bodies of passengers of this aircraft on the ground were all without seats. To be clearer, if passengers had their seatbelts fastened, they should have been ejected along with their seats. Exactly what happened in Malaysian flight MH17 [a flight that crashed as a result of a missile strike over Ukraine]. But what we saw in Iran shows that there was panic and turmoil inside the cabin before the missile struck the aircraft.”

Based on Aleksandr Rovin’s interpretation, due to the fear and anxiety that existed in the cabin, passengers unfastened their seatbelts despite the red light indicating the seatbelt sign was on, and rose from their seats. He says there is evidence showing that there was a fire inside the cabin and black smoke came from the vents.

According to this Ukrainian official, immediately after the aircraft crashed and when people were still allowed to enter the crash site, Iranian forces collected all pieces of the aircraft from the crash location.

He adds that all mobile phones and laptops of the 176 passengers on this aircraft that were in the possession of the Ukrainian team were taken back by Iran.

Ukrainian officials had previously stated that Iran began “concealing evidence” during the initial investigation very quickly and closed the crash site to the foreign team.

The head of Ukraine’s forensic medicine department said: “We were unable to find the lower part of the aircraft, we found only four seats while this flight had 167 passengers plus crew.”

Ukraine Threatens Complaint to International Court

Following the publication of this interview in the Ukrainian newspaper, tensions between Ukraine and Iran escalated. Ukraine threatened that if Iran does not cooperate in investigations regarding the cause of the aircraft crash, Ukraine will file a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister said on May 18: “If our negotiations do not result in an agreement, we will be forced to file a complaint with the International Court of Justice, and this will not only include Ukraine but also Canada, Britain, Sweden, and Afghanistan will stand alongside Ukraine.”

These are countries whose citizens were on the Tehran-Kyiv flight.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister expressed hope that Iran will fulfill its international obligations and hand over the aircraft’s black box. He simultaneously emphasized that Iran has not yet closed this case “although the country in which the accident occurs should immediately retrieve the black box or hand it over to a third country.”

On the 18th of Dey last year, flight 752 of Ukraine International Airlines traveling from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down six minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport following a strike by the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard air defense system. 176 passengers and crew members on this flight were killed. Iranian Islamic Republic officials claimed for three days after this incident that the crash was due to technical failure.

Following the publication of the interview by the head of Ukraine’s forensic medicine organization and the disclosure that a fire likely occurred in the aircraft before the missile strike, some families of victims and social media users have mentioned the possibility of another missile strike.

Source: DW