A pilot error is unlikely to have caused the crash of Ukraine's Boeing 737 near Tehran, the vice president of operations at the Ukraine International Airlines said on Wednesday.
According to the Iranian and Ukrainian officials, the crash, which happened shortly after take-off from Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, left no survivors.
"We know, as of today, that the aircraft went to the altitude of 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). The crew mistake is minimal. We simply do not consider it. Considering their experience, it is very hard to say that it could somehow be about the crew," Igor Sosnovsky said at a briefing.
"All crew members had enough experience and flight hours," he added.
Evgeny Dykhne, the company president, said that the crashed aircraft was one of the best at the Ukraine International Airlines.
Dykhne said the company had "no right out to work out its own theories (of what happened)," adding that a special investigative panel was to put forward possible versions.