Deadliest plane crashes in Iran since 2003

Tehran, Iran | AFP | An Iranian passenger plane on a domestic flight crashed on Sunday into the country’s Zagros mountains, with all 66 people on board feared dead.

Here is a recap of the deadliest plane crashes in Iran since 2003.

– 2014 –

On August 10, an Antonov An-140 run by Sepahan Airlines carrying 40 passengers and eight crew crashed moments after it took off from Tehran. Thirty-nine people were killed and nine others severely injured. The pilot narrowly missed buildings and a busy market before crashing into a concrete wall. Iranian authorities said the cause of the accident was engine failure and faulty alarm signal.

– 2011 –

On January 9, an Iran Air Boeing 727 shattered on impact while attempting an emergency landing in a snowstorm in the country’s northwest, killing 77 people and injuring 27. The aircraft had taken off from Tehran with more than an hour’s delay due to bad weather and two previous flights had already been cancelled.

– 2009 –

On July 15, a Tupolev 154 jetliner operated by Caspian Airlines en route from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia caught fire shortly after takeoff and crashed into a field in the northern region of Qazvin, killing all 168 passengers on board including 15 crew. Authorities said a technical problem was the cause of the crash.

– 2006 –

On November 26, an Iranian military plane crashed in Tehran, killing 39 people of which 30 were members of the Revolutionary Guard — the Islamic regime’s ideological army. The plane had been destined for Shiraz in the south but crashed on takeoff at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.

In January the same year eight senior officers of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guard and three crew members were killed when a military plane crashed in the northwest of the country.

On September 1, 29 people were killed when a Tupolev 154 crashed and burst into flames in Mashhad in the northeast after a tire blew up.The aircraft run by Iran Airtours skidded off the runway and crashed into fencing.

– 2005 –

On December 6, a military transport craft Lockheed C130 crashed at the foot of a 10-storey apartment building in a residential area of southern Tehran, killing 108 people including 68 journalists and photographers, and injuring more than 90. Among the victims, 14 people were killed on the ground. The plane had experienced engine trouble just after takeoff from Mehrabad.

– 2003 –

On February 19, an Ilyushin Il-76 belonging to the air army of the elite Revolutionary Guard crashed near Kerman in the southeast, killing all 275 people on board. The craft had disappeared from radar monitors an hour after takeoff from Zahedan Airport and following contact from the pilot to airport control in Kerman to warn them he wanted to land due to bad weather.