Aviation group says Iran plane crash should be treated as 'shootdown event'

An aviation group suggests the fatal crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran should be treated as a “shootdown event.”

“We would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary,” highlighting photos of the crash site which they said “show obvious projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section,” says OPS Group, as quoted by The Independent.

Details were limited Wednesday about the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines plane, a Boeing 737-800, near Tehran that killed 176 people. Iran has refused to hand over the black box to the US-based Boeing, over tensions with Washington.