Flights In and Out of Tehran Continued After Missile Strikes and Plane Crash
The passenger jet that crashed minutes after taking off in Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, was one of 19 flights that took off from the city’s international airport in the hours after Iran launched missiles at military bases in neighboring Iraq that housed American troops.
Despite the crash and the attacks, flight activity at Imam Khomeini International Airport that day was startlingly similar to activity in recent weeks, according to data from FlightAware, an industry tracking firm.
Comparing Wednesday morning flights departing from Imam Khomeini airport
12 a.m.
12 a.m.
12 a.m.
1 a.m.
1 a.m.
1 a.m.
2 a.m.
2 a.m.
2 a.m.
3 a.m.
3 a.m.
3 a.m.
4 a.m.
4 a.m.
4 a.m.
5 a.m.
5 a.m.
5 a.m.
6 a.m.
6 a.m.
6 a.m.
7 a.m.
7 a.m.
7 a.m.
8 a.m.
8 a.m.
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
10 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
11 a.m.
11 a.m.
12 p.m.
Ukraine International Flight 752
took off. It crashed minutes later.
Iranian missiles began to strike
two military bases in Iraq housing
U.S. troops.
Wed., Jan. 8
Two flights after Flight 752
were canceled.
Iran Air Flight 721 took off soon
after the crash.
12 a.m.
1 a.m.
2 a.m.
3 a.m.
4 a.m.
5 a.m.
6 a.m.
7 a.m.
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
12 p.m.
12 p.m.
Flight 752
Wed., Jan. 1
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 25
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 18
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 11
Iranian missiles began to strike
two military bases in Iraq housing
U.S. troops.
Ukraine International Flight 752
took off. It crashed minutes later.
Wed., Jan. 8
Two flights after Flight 752
were canceled.
Iran Air Flight 721 took off soon
after the crash.
12 a.m.
1 a.m.
2 a.m.
3 a.m.
4 a.m.
5 a.m.
6 a.m.
7 a.m.
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
12 p.m.
Flight 752
Wed., Jan. 1
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 25
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 18
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 11
12 a.m.
2 a.m.
4 a.m.
6 a.m.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
Iranian missiles began to strike
two military bases in Iraq housing
U.S. troops.
Ukraine International Flight 752
took off. It crashed minutes later.
Wed., Jan. 8
Two flights after Flight 752
were canceled
.
Iran Air Flight 721 took off
soon after the crash.
12 a.m.
2 a.m.
4 a.m.
6 a.m.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
Flight 752
Wed., Jan. 1
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 25
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 18
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 11
12 a.m.
2 a.m.
4 a.m.
6 a.m.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
Iranian missiles began to strike
two military bases in Iraq housing
U.S. troops.
Ukraine International Flight 752
took off. It crashed minutes later.
Wed., Jan. 8
Two flights after Flight 752
were canceled.
Iran Air Flight 721 took off
soon after the crash.
12 a.m.
2 a.m.
4 a.m.
6 a.m.
8 a.m.
10 a.m.
12 p.m.
Flight 752
Wed., Jan. 1
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 25
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 18
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 11
Wednesday, Jan. 8
12 a.m.
3 a.m.
6 a.m.
9 a.m.
12 p.m.
Iranian missiles struck
two bases in Iraq.
Ukraine International Flight 752
took off. It crashed minutes later.
Flights:
Two flights after Flight 752
were canceled.
Iran Air Flight 721
took off soon after
the crash.
Wed., Jan. 1
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 25
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 18
Flight 752
Wed., Dec. 11
Flight 752
Why flights resumed so soon after the military strikes remains unclear.
The flight that crashed — Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — was the ninth one to take off from the airport after the attacks had begun. Iran suggested soon after the crash that mechanical failure might have been the cause, but on Saturday the country’s military announced that it had shot down the plane by accident, citing human error.
Not long after the attacks on the bases, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a restriction on all American carriers, banning them from flying in the region’s airspace.
A spokeswoman for Austrian Airlines said its flight to Vienna scheduled for 3:45 a.m. took off because there were no additional security constraints in place from the Tehran airport or other authorities, though the airline did cancel flights into Iraq after news of the missile strikes.
Flights departing from Imam Khomeini airport the morning of Jan. 8
Frankfurt
Moscow
Vienna
Kyiv
UKRAINE
Flight 752 to Kyiv crashed
minutes after it took off at
6:12 a.m.
Istanbul
Baku
Missiles from Iran
hit military bases
in Iraq starting at
2:15 a.m.
Tehran
Baghdad
IRAN
IRAQ
To Hong Kong
Doha
Dubai
Frankfurt
Moscow
Vienna
Kyiv
Flight 752
to Kyiv crashed
minutes after it took
off at 6:12 a.m.
UKRAINE
Istanbul
Baku
Missiles from
Iran hit military
bases in Iraq
starting at
2:15 a.m.
Tehran
IRAQ
IRAN
To Hong Kong
Doha
Dubai
Frankfurt
Moscow
Vienna
Kyiv
UKRAINE
Flight 752 to Kyiv crashed minutes
after it took off at 6:12 a.m.
Istanbul
Baku
Missiles from Iran hit
military bases in Iraq
starting at 2:15 a.m.
Tehran
Baghdad
IRAQ
IRAN
To Hong Kong
Doha
Dubai
Frankfurt
Moscow
Vienna
Kyiv
UKRAINE
Flight 752 to Kyiv crashed minutes
after it took off at 6:12 a.m.
Istanbul
Baku
Missiles from Iran hit
military bases in Iraq
starting at 2:15 a.m.
Tehran
Baghdad
IRAN
IRAQ
To Hong Kong
Doha
Dubai
Danielle Lupton, an assistant professor of political science at Colgate University, suggested that Iran’s focus at the time was likely on retaliating against the United States for killing Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a powerful Iranian commander.
“If you’re shutting down all of your airspace, you might not want to do that tactically, because it’s a pretty big signal to your opponent,” Ms. Lupton said.
The traffic pattern at the airport that morning, with the exception of the crash, was much like patterns the previous four Wednesdays. On Jan. 1, 20 flights took off before noon. On the Wednesday before that, there were 26.
This Wednesday, Flight 752 took off nearly an hour behind schedule. A Ukrainian official on Friday said the delay was caused by the unloading of cargo from the plane.
The two flights that were scheduled to take off right after the Ukrainian jet were canceled, according to FlightAware. Both were bound for Istanbul.
But at least eight flights operated by Iran Air flew out of Imam Khomeini airport in the hours after the crash, the data shows. Other airlines whose flights took off shortly after the crash included Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Mahan Air, another Iranian carrier.
Flight 752 crashed just a few miles from the airport. Ukrainian officials said on Friday that they had analyzed the plane’s flight pattern and determined that it had stayed within the normal corridor for flights out of the airport.
Flights that took off before Flight 752
Flights that took off after Flight 752
TEHRAN
Site of crash
The last signal was
received two minutes
after takeoff.
UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL
AIRLINES FLIGHT 752
Imam Khomeini
International Airport
Flight 752 departed
at 6:12 a.m.
2 MILES
Flights that took off before Flight 752
Flights that took off after Flight 752
TEHRAN
Site of crash
The last signal was
received two minutes
after takeoff.
UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL
AIRLINES FLIGHT 752
Imam Khomeini
Intl. Airport
Flight 752 departed
at 6:12 a.m.
2 MILES
Flights that took off before Flight 752
Flights that took off after Flight 752
Site of crash
TEHRAN
The last signal was
received two minutes
after takeoff.
UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL
AIRLINES FLIGHT 752
Imam Khomeini
International Airport
2 MILES
Flight 752 departed
at 6:12 a.m.
Flights that took off before Flight 752
Flights that took off after Flight 752
Site of crash
TEHRAN
The last signal was
received two minutes
after takeoff.
UKRAINE INTERNATIONAL
AIRLINES FLIGHT 752
Imam Khomeini
International Airport
2 MILES
Flight 752 departed
at 6:12 a.m.
Iran said the plane turned toward a sensitive military base, leading Iranian missiles to bring it down. Video verified by The Times appeared to show the plane heading back toward the airport when it crashed.
“The protocol is that the government that owns the airspace is responsible to notify everybody if there is a change in the security of the airspace,” said John Cox, an accident investigator and head of an aviation consulting firm. “If there are missiles flying around, the government has the responsibility to let everybody know.”
In a statement, a Lufthansa Group spokeswoman said all of its airlines, including Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, were canceling flights into or out of Tehran through Jan. 20 “as a precautionary measure.”