According to the Ukrainian Embassy it was "engine failure" that caused the plane to crash. Given the timing of the crash, it's highly questionable given that this was reported mere moments after the crash. Investigators would need a lot longer than that to determine the cause.
Twitter's the best place to speculate, so I'll put my two cents out there: Iran probably shot down the 737 by mistake and Ukraine's saying what it needs to say to prevent any blowback against the regime or cause any escalation in the fluid situation between Iran and the US.
Remember when Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists accidentally shot down MH17 in 2014? The investigation took almost two years to complete, even with a Dutch-led international task force.
You're gonna tell me the Iranians figured out it was engine failure in 5 minutes?
You're gonna tell me the Iranians figured out it was engine failure in 5 minutes?
This looks like shrapnel damage on the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, which went down near Tehran tonight. Pictures 2 and 3 show shrapnel damage on MH17, shot down by an SA-11 Buk surface-to-air missile in 2014. (via @Kaitain_AZ ) 
@Kaitain_AZ If you're unfamiliar with the SA-11 or Buk missile system, it detonates in mid air in proximity of the plane, floods the cockpit with shrapnel and kills the pilots. The passengers die from depressurization and extreme cold while it crashes to the ground, usually in one piece.
@Kaitain_AZ Just think of the SA-11 as a missile system that tracks a plane and then fires a shotgun blast of shrapnel to the cockpit when it gets in range. It's not a high-explosive warhead.
@Kaitain_AZ The Dutch Safety Board produced this video to explain how the Buk missile system works, and how it crashed flight MH17 in July 2014.
Not saying this is what (possibly) shot down the plane in Iran, though.
Not saying this is what (possibly) shot down the plane in Iran, though.
@Kaitain_AZ All evidence, including video, points to PS752 being shot down by a surface-to-air missile, burning up in mid air and falling to the ground. There's extensive damage on the plane that could've only been caused by shrapnel from a mid-air detonation.
@Kaitain_AZ Facts:
- If there was an engine fire the plane would’ve slowed down, and the pilots would’ve made their way back to the airport. It kept climbing.
- Fire suppression systems would’ve prevented the plane from turning into a ball of fire.
- Shrapnel damage on wings & fuselage.
- If there was an engine fire the plane would’ve slowed down, and the pilots would’ve made their way back to the airport. It kept climbing.
- Fire suppression systems would’ve prevented the plane from turning into a ball of fire.
- Shrapnel damage on wings & fuselage.
@Kaitain_AZ Some conjecture here but the morons operating the surface-to-air missile site were probably preparing for a celebration of their symbolic destruction of a U.S. surveillance drone, like the Global Hawk they shot down.
They're roughly the same size and fly at the same speed.
They're roughly the same size and fly at the same speed.
