Middle East

‘No survivors’ after passenger aircraft crashes in Iran

Internal flight carrying 65 passengers reportedly crashed 50 minutes after takeoff

A man is overcome by emotions as a group of relatives of passengers of an downed Aseman Airline flight gathers around a mosque at the Mehr-Abad airport in Tehran. Photograph: EPA

Sun Feb 18 2018 - 09:32

All 65 passengers and crew are believed to have been killed in a plane crash in central Iran on Sunday, an airline spokesman said.

Operated by Iranian carrier Aseman Airlines, the domestic flight came down in bad weather in a mountainous region near the town of Semirom after taking off from Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, news agency ISNA reported.

The ATR-made plane was on a flight to the southwestern city of Yasuj and a spokesman for the airline said there were 59 passengers and six crew aboard.

“All...on board were unfortunately killed,” Aseman spokesman Mohammad Taqi Tabatabai told state television.

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Rescue helicopters were unable to land at the probable crash site because of heavy fog, and emergency workers were searching the mountainous area by land, the television report said.

“Heavy snow is making it difficult for rescuers to find the site of the crash,” a television reporter accompanying rescue teams told state television.

Media reports said the twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes after taking off from Mehrabad airport.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani issued messages of condolences, and the president asked the transport minister to lead an investigation into the crash.

Mehrabad is located in western Tehran and mainly functions as a domestic airport, although it also serves some international routes.

Iran has suffered several plane crashes in the past few decades. Tehran says US sanctions have long prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West. The crashed ATR was 25 years old, officials said.

Based in the southern French city of Toulouse, ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo. – Reuters

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