Kiev: Ukraine International Airlines President Yevhenii Dykhne said on Saturday he never doubted that the airline had not caused the crash of its passenger plane in Iran.
Eleven Ukrainians, including nine crew members, died in the plane crash that killed 176 people on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian government figures. Dykhne wrote a statement on social media after Iran said it had mistakenly shot down the plane.
“We didn’t doubt for a second that our crew and our plane couldn’t be the cause for this horrible plane crash,” Dykhne said.
“These were our best guys and girls. The best,” he said.
The statement from the Ukraine airliner came hours after Iran released a statement saying it had shut down the aircraft unintentionally and termed it human error.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Minister for foreign affairs Vadym Prystayko said Ukraine will demand compensation from Iran if it's confirmed that the Ukrainian airliner that crashed near Tehran this week was downed by an Iranian missile.
