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All 117 Aboard Killed In Iranian Plane Crash
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Iranian
airlines are hampered by a lack of reliable aircraft because of a
unilateral U.S. embargo on the country.
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TEHRAN, Feb. 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - All 117 people were killed aboard an Iranian Tupolev 154 airliner when it crashed Tuesday in mountains near Khorramabad in southwest Iran, officials told news agencies.
"Unfortunately all the 117 passengers and crew members were killed in the accident," Iran's civil aviation organization said in a statement. Tehran airport sources said they comprised 104 passengers and 13 crew, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Our rescue teams some 100 strong are at the scene, but given that the mountain is covered in snow, it will be very difficult to reach the aircraft quickly," the statement added.
The plane owned by the Iran Air Tours, disappeared from radar screens shortly after take-off from Mehrabad International Airport at 07:30 (0400 GMT), the head of the public relations office of the CAO, Reza Jafarzadeh, said, the official sIranian News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Minutes before the crash, the plane also lost radio contact with the Khorramabad airport where it was heading, and efforts to reestablish contact were of no avail, he said, adding that a search team was immediately formed and dispatched to the crash area.
Earlier, a local official at Cheghini, 35 kilometers (21 miles) from Khorramabad, told AFP, "We will need mountaineers to bring down the bodies.” He added that there was a violent explosion when the plane crashed.
The official said civil servants from Iran's education ministry were believed to be among those aboard.
Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said President Mohammad Khatami had ordered a commission of inquiry to determine the cause of the crash.
The three-engined Tu-154 first flew in 1968 and some 1,000 were built. It has a relatively good safety record.
In the wake of that accident, a parliamentary commission of inquiry called on the authorities to tighten safety on domestic flights.
Iran Air Tours is a subsidiary of state airline Iran Air. On February 8, 1993, a Tu-154 of the company collided with an Iranian air force fighter on taking off from Tehran airport, killing all 131 aboard.
Iranian airlines are hampered by a lack of reliable aircraft because of a unilateral U.S. embargo on the country. Iran Air has largely to make do with ageing Boeings acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is desperately short of spare parts.
Tehran is in the process of purchasing a number of European Airbuses, but airlines in the meantime are using Russian aircraft, sometimes leased complete with crews.
Khorramabad is located 400 kms southwest of Tehran in Lorestan province. In May, 2201, a Russian-built Yak-40 plane crashed with 30 people on board, including the then transport minister Rahman Dadman, while it was heading for northern Iran in hazy weather.
Officials blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error.
Another Tu-154 plane crashed near Irkutsk in Russia last July, killing all 133 passengers and 10 crew members aboard.
That crash was the 20th involving a Tu-154 since it entered service in the early 1970s.
Iran has said the U.S. stance on spare parts endangers the lives of innocent passengers, BBC’s online news service reported.
The BBC Tehran correspondent said the crash is the latest in a series of incidents involving ageing Russian-built aircraft leased by companies in Iran.
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