Ukraine airline chief says he never believed airline caused Iran crash

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.