Canadian crash investigators set to land in Tehran to aid in crash probe

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada’s air crash investigators will be “fully in place” in Tehran tonight, and other experts may be dispatched as needed to help with the fallout from last week’s deadly crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752.

The Transportation Safety Board provided an update on its work Monday afternoon, saying that two investigators are en-route to Iran.

TSB Chair Kathy Fox assured Canadians they will continue to advocate for a full explanation about what happened and why.

Its investigators are seeking access to the plane’s flight data recorders, known as the “black boxes,” to help with the investigation being led by Iran’s civil aviation authority.

Iran has invited Canadian investigators to take part in the download and examination of flight recorder data.

Fox said the TSB will deploy a second team of investigators with expertise in aircraft recorder download and analysis.

Watch the full TSB press conference below.

Iran admitted over the weekend that one of its own missiles took down the Boeing 737-800, but called it a horrible mistake.

All 176 on board were killed, including 138 people who were headed for Canada.

Champagne tweeted Monday afternoon that all visas had been approved for investigators and Canadian consular officials who are helping grieving families.

Earlier Monday, Canadian Jewish and Iranian organizations reiterated their demands for the federal government to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity.

Doing so would remove a legal obstacle and enable Canadian victims to sue the Iranian government under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.