8 January 2020 — 0858 mst

 Update:  Trudeau says Iran shot down the jet

An airliner crashes in Iran

Update, 9 January. According to the New York Times, a U.S. surveillance satellite recorded the launch of two surface to air missiles, one of which hit the 737. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he believes the airline was shot down by accident, but is awaiting additional confirmation. If indeed a SAM did bring down the jetliner, Iran’s only option is immediately and fully coming clean, admitting to the mistake, and taking its lumps. Whether the ayatollahs will have the smarts to do that remains to be seen.

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A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 climbing out of Tehran’s airport suddenly lost altitude and crashed at approximately 0618 Tehran time, killing all 176 passengers and crew. Witnesses report that an engine was on fire.

The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been found and will be analyzed by a competent authority, but, the Guardian reports, not by Boeing or the United States.

There’s a lot of speculation on the internet that the aircraft was brought down by some nefarious action. Although that cannot, and should not, be ruled out at this time, there’s no evidence to support that theory.

The aircraft was serviced a couple of days ago. If an engine was serviced incorrectly, that could result in an uncontained engine failure. Another possibility: during the takeoff and climb out in the dark, an engine ingested a foreign object.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the investigation will be thorough, professional, and not fatally politicized. Determining the cause of the crash is in everyone’s enlightened self-interest.