Iran plane crash latest to afflict aging fleet

In 2002, transport chief said aging fleet at 'crisis point'

Senior officials have acknowledged that Iran’s safety record was suffering because of sanctions. In late 2002, speaking days after the crash of a Ukrainian-made plane killed 46 scientists, the then-transport chief said several Boeing and Airbus planes had been grounded for lack of parts, and Iran’s aging fleet had “reached a crisis point.”

Fars reported on Monday that Iran “has recently started a plan to renew its air fleet not only through purchase of foreign planes, but also through domestic production.”

Officials announced in August that they were replacing Soviet-designed Tupolev passenger planes with 13 Boeing and six Airbus planes purchased through a third party. The transport ministry announced that five of the Boeing jets had already arrived in Iran.

Fars also noted that Iran was boosting production on its own 52-seat, double turboprop aircraft called the Iran-140. The defense ministry was “fully prepared to manufacture them” once they received the order, Iran’s Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told Fars in October. Already by then, he said, Iran had manufactured seven of the planes.

Recent plane crashes in Iran

Sunday’s crash adds to a long list of incidents. In July 2009, a Caspian Airlines Tupolev bound for Armenia caught fire and crashed northeast of Tehran, killing all 168 on board.

In January 2008 an IranAir Fokker-100 experienced double engine failure on take-off in Tehran and burned on the tarmac.

In November 2006, a military plane crashed upon takeoff in Tehran, killing all 39 on board – 30 of them Revolution Guard soldiers.

In December 2005, a US-made Iranian military C-130 plane ferrying journalists to military exercises crashed into a 10-story apartment block, killing all 94 on board and as many as 34 others.

And in the worst incident in Iranian aviation history, a February 2003 crash into mountains of southeast Iran of an Ilyushin-76 troop carrier with Revolutionary Guard passengers left all 302 dead.

RELATED: New Year priorities: Iran focused on turmoil at home

Previous

1 | 2