CBS crew just visited the #Ukrainian airlines crash site west of Tehran. Nine am local time. Virtually all pieces of the plane were removed yesterday - say locals. Scavengers now picking site clean. No security. Not cordoned off. No sign of any investigators. pic.twitter.com/hhNJyokhjq
— Elizabeth Palmer (@elizapalmer) January 10, 2020
A CBS News reporter says a news crew has visited the site of the Ukraine Airlines crash in Iran and that locals tell them virtually all pieces of the plane were removed yesterday.
The report says scavengers are now picking the site clean and that there is no security.
Veteran pilot and aviation expert, Captain Jon Cox tells NEWSTALK 1010 it's not the first time something like this has happened. "In some countries...scavengers will go to the wreckage site to pick up things like wiring they can sell...and they take evidence away from the site."
Cox says investigators will want to see key pieces of the plane to determine what happened.
He says moving the wreckage out of the debris field this early is not ideal, but if Iran has moved it to a secure site where investigators have access to it, they will still be able to gather a lot of information.