Ukrainian Commission Not Shown Cockpit, Wreckage Haphazardly Pushed by Bulldozers: What Is Happening at the Boeing 737 Crash Site in Iran

A source in the commission believes the crash site is being cleared incorrectly.

At the site of the crash of the Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines, which went down on January 8 near the Iranian capital, Tehran, bulldozers are pushing the aircraft debris and haphazardly dumping it at the collection area.

This was reported on Friday, January 10, to Censor.NET by a source, one of the members of the interdepartmental commission investigating the air disaster.

The commission has been working at the crash site for a second day. Some of the experts left today for Iran's air traffic control center to gain access to radar records. A second group remains at the debris collection area, and, as the source claims, it is unclear whether Iran is genuinely interested in a quality investigation.

The source in the commission believes that a different approach should have been taken: photographing the crash site, identifying some of the fragments, and gradually carefully removing them and laying them out.

"How can one prove, for example, the nature of an explosion if new damage could already be caused to the fuselage fragments by a bulldozer? The Iranians are literate, educated people, they cannot fail to understand this," the source explained.

In addition, according to him, by 12:00 on January 10 Ukrainian specialists still had not been shown fragments of the aircraft's nose section and the cockpit, and there are also no passenger seats at the site.

"We do not understand: are they not showing us the cockpit because they are studying it themselves, or because it was completely destroyed by the explosion? At the moment, we have not been presented with a single piece of evidence for the version that Iran initially put forward, namely about technical causes of the incident," the source in the commission noted.

Meanwhile, CNN, citing an eyewitness, reports that all large pieces of wreckage have already been removed from the crash site.

According to CNN correspondent Richard Quest, this is a very unusual step at such an early stage of the investigation: the crash site is being cleared quickly and without the presence of all accredited persons, while normally experts from the main investigative bodies examine wreckage at the crash site in its original state.

Also, according to the eyewitness, looters are trying to collect scattered belongings at the site of the tragedy, while Iranian police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are dispersing people who are "wandering around the territory." At the same time, on Wednesday the situation remained more controlled, as the site had been cordoned off.

Earlier, Censor.NET, citing sources in the Ukrainian state commission investigating the crash, had already reported that the version of an engine malfunction and explosion of the aircraft's engines is not yet confirmed, as no traces of fire are visible on the engines, nor on the fragments of the right wing.

On January 9, American media, citing sources among US authorities and the military, reported that the Boeing of the Ukrainian airline may have been shot down by Iranian air defense systems, probably by accident. US President Donald Trump also hinted that the aircraft might have been damaged because of Iran. He does not believe the crash was caused by a technical malfunction of the aircraft.

Later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that, according to Canadian intelligence, the Ukrainian aircraft was shot down by an Iranian missile. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said that there is currently a great deal of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, possibly unintentionally. In addition, according to the Australian prime minister, his country's authorities have received the same data.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the version of the crash of the Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines in Iran due to a missile strike is not ruled out, but requires evidence. Certain "important data" has already been handed over to the Ukrainian president by the American side.

Iran, in turn, has called on Canada and the authorities of other countries to share data about the crash of the airliner.

Head of Iran's Civil Aviation Authority Ali Abedzadeh today said that data from the black boxes will show the true cause of the UIA aircraft crash, and until then information that a missile hit the plane should not be considered true.

Abedzadeh confirmed Iran's position that the aircraft was not shot down by a missile, and the fact that Iran has invited all international partners to take part in the investigation, according to the official, indicates Tehran's readiness for a transparent investigation.