from BBC News online
An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying about 250 people has crashed in the south of the country, state television has reported.
The Antonov plane was on a flight between the town of Zahedan to the central city of Kerman when it lost contact around 1730 local time (1400 GMT), it said.
The television said some Revolutionary Guards officials were among the dead.
The cause of the crash is unclear.
Last February, 117 people died when an Iranian passenger plane crashed into snow-covered mountains in the west of the country.
And in December more than 40 people died when a new Ukrainian plane crashed into a mountain as it was preparing to land in Isfahan, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital Tehran.
By: EGNM - 20th February 2003 at 11:14
RE: Iranian Antonov crashes
Pakistan’s air force chief, Mushaf Ali Mir, has been killed in a plane crash in a remote north-western region of the country.
The Fokker-27 aircraft, carrying 17 people, is said to have come down in bad weather in the northern Kohat district, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) north-west of the capital, Islamabad.
“There were no survivors,” a military spokesman said.
Mir’s wife and a number of other senior officers were also on board.
A military spokesman said the plane’s wreckage has been found and most of the bodies have been airlifted by helicopters to a nearby air base.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but according to senior officials it appears to have been an accident.
Contact lost
Mir was on his way to inspect an air base when the plane went down.
Military sources said radio contact was lost as soon as the aircraft entered the mountainous region.
Rain and strong winds over the past four days have badly disrupted air travel in the country’s northern region and officials say there is a strong possibility that Mir’s plane may have crashed due to the conditions.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf expressed profound grief and sorrow over the air chief’s death.
The deputy chief of the Pakistan Air Force, Syed Qaiser Hussain, has been appointed acting air force chief, a spokesman said.
The BBC’s Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says as news of the crash was received in the capital, an emergency was declared at all the air force bases in the area.
Accidents involving Pakistan air force planes during training flights are not uncommon, but this is the first time in the country’s history that such a high-ranking military official has been killed in an air crash.
The only other comparable incident is the air crash involving a former military ruler, General Zia ul-Haq, in 1988, but that was widely believed to be an act of sabotage.
By: KabirT - 20th February 2003 at 06:57
RE: Iranian Antonov crashes
Very sad indeed…and now reports coming in of an air-crash in Pakistan.
By: serendib - 20th February 2003 at 01:41
RE: Iran plane crash kills 302
Its not an Antonov. It was a IL-76 belonging to the IRGC.
Sam.
By: EGNM - 20th February 2003 at 00:19
Iran plane crash kills 302
An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 302 people has crashed in the south of the country, killing all those on board.
The plane was on a flight between the town of Zahedan, near the border with Pakistan, and the central city of Kerman when it lost contact with air traffic control at about 1730 local time (1400 GMT).
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but air traffic controllers at Kerman airport said the pilot had radioed bad weather and strong winds before losing contact, the Iranian news agency IRNA reports. There has been heavy snow in the region.
IRAN AIR CRASHES
40 people die when a new Ukrainian plane crashes into a mountain in Iran in December 2002
Russian-made Tu-154 airliner crashes into mountains in March 2002, killing 117 people
80 die when a military plane crashes in north-east Iran in March 1997
Tu-154 crashes into a military plane near Tehran in February 1993, killing 132
Timeline of air disasters
Rescue workers have reached the scene of the crash and have begun sifting through the wreckage.
Iranian television said there were no survivors among the 284 elite Revolutionary Guards and 18 crew aboard the Russian-made Ilyushin plane.
The Guard, which was formed soon after the overthrow of the Shah and the creation of the Islamic republic more than 20 years ago, is seen as a staunch defender of Iran’s Islamic regime.
Earlier reports had said at least 270 people had been on board the plane when it crashed in a mountainous area.
String of accidents
An unnamed official told Tehran television that the passengers had been on a visit to the impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province of which Zahedan is the capital.
The Iranian cabinet, in a statement, has offered condolences to the nation and bereaved families over the “tragic event in which a group of IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] brothers” were killed.
There has been a series of disasters in Iran involving mainly Russian-built planes.
Up to half of Iran’s transport aircraft are believed to be of Russian design, and correspondents say they have a poor safety record.
Three of them have crashed in the past two years, killing an estimated 200 people.
The most recent disaster was in December when a new Ukrainian plane flew into a mountain, killing more than 40 scientists on board, as it was preparing to land in Isfahan, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital Tehran.
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Death toll unfortunatly risen to 302 on the ILYUSHIN – Very sad
By: A330Crazy - 19th February 2003 at 22:21
RE: Iranian Antonov crashes
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 19-02-03 AT 10:21 PM (GMT)]Well according to the BBC now, people are finding it hard to tell weather it was a Antonov, or if it was in fact an IL of some kind.
Article from BBC.
“There are conflicting reports as to the model of the aircraft, with some reports saying it was a Russian-made Antonov and others reporting it to be an Ilyushin.“
By: MSR777 - 19th February 2003 at 22:19
RE: Iranian Antonov crashes
Bad news. Do we know what type of Antonov?
The future’s bright – the future’s Airbus!
IF62M
By: A330Crazy - 19th February 2003 at 20:38
RE: Iranian Antonov crashes
Some sad news. 🙁 Keep us posted Bhoy.
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February 19, 2003 at 8:36 pm