Missing plane over southern Iran.

[BRL]

Just heard on Sky news that a plane carrying 280 people has 'lost contact' with controllers over southern Iran.
Anyone got anything more?

[mvand003]

Iranian airliner feared lost

An Iranian passenger plane carrying about 290 people has lost contact with
air traffic control, state television has reported.
The plane was on a flight between the south-western town of Zahedan to the
central city of Kerman.

An unnamed official said it was not yet clear if the aircraft had crashed.

Details are still coming in.

[Airbubba]

From MSNBC:

NBC NEWS BULLETIN
Airliner crashes in south Iran
More than 250 people on board

From CNN:

NEWS ALERT Passenger plane with more than 250 people aboard crashes in southeastern Iran, wire services report. Details soon.

[akerosid]

I had a quick look at the OAG, but couldn't see any flights from Zahedan to Kerman; however, Mahan Airlines has an A300 due into Kerman at 22.00; would carry about 280 and news breaking just now, three hours ahead of UK, time seems right.

Sad news, nonetheless.

[ajamieson]

222 08 intjw uae cai gfx
Eds: SUBS lede to ADD that most passengers were military; ADDS locators for cities in graf 2; ADDS graphic line
AP Graphic IRAN PLANE CRASH
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A plane carrying at least 250 people, most military personnel, crashed in southern Iran on Wednesday, state-run Tehran television reported.
The plane was on a domestic route from Zahedan, on the Pakistan border, to Kerman, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran. It crashed about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from its destination, near the city of Shahdad.
The television report said the plane lost contact with the control tower at 5:30 p.m. local time (1400 GMT).
The report said the plane was a Russian-made Antonov aircraft and that its more than 250 passengers were mostly military.
It said there were no more details available on the crash.
aad-ts 192012 feb 03GMT

[Squawk7777]

Plane with Over 250 Aboard Crashes in Iran

Updated 3:01 PM ET February 19, 2003


TEHRAN (Reuters) - A passenger plane with over 250 people aboard has crashed in southeastern Iran, Iranian state television said Wednesday.

The Antonov plane was traveling between the cities of Zahedan and Kerman when it lost radio contact around 5:30 p.m., it said.

No further details were immediately available.

[mvand003]

live reporter from Iran at CNN just talked about Ilushin and not Antonov, so might be Il-76 or Il-86

update, make than an Il-76 Iranian Air Force

[CHK Y'R 6]

TEHRAN, Iran — A plane carrying 270 passengers, most military personnel, crashed in southern Iran on Wednesday, state-run Tehran television reported.

The plane was on a domestic route from Zahedan, on the Pakistan border, to Kerman, about 500 miles southeast of Tehran. It crashed about 50 miles from its destination, near the city of Shahdad.

The television report said the plane lost contact with the control tower at 5:30 p.m. local time.

The report said the plane's 270 passengers were members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

An anonymous official told Tehran television that the forces had visited the impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province, of which Zahedan is the capital, for an "important duty." The military corps is seen as a defender of Iran's Islamic regime.

The report said the plane was a Russian-made Antonov airliner. There were no more details available on the crash.

Wednesday's crash was the latest in a string of air disasters in Iran involving mostly Russian-built airliners.

A Ukrainian An-140 aircraft flew into a mountainside Dec. 23, 2002, while preparing to land at an airport near the central city of Isfahan, killing all the estimated 46 scientists aboard.

In February 2002, the Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154 airliner, carrying 119 people, smashed into snow-covered mountains not far from its destination of Khorramabad, 230 miles southwest of Tehran.

Aviation News (http://luchtvaart.pagina.nl)

[Rollingthunder]

ABC News now reporting 302 were onboard.

[RogerTangoFoxtrotIndigo]

Wow you guys are unbelievable.

At this point I think that we should remember that this is a plane crash that has taken 302 lives and offer a thought for the families of the deceased, may they rest in peace. If this had been an accident involving a western aircraft we would already have had several posts to that effect, i cant believe that no one has so far had that thought

Maybe, at this time more than ever, we should all reflect on that and that solider, pax, civilian, aviator, mother or child we are all humans, none of us is born more or less worthy.

[HotDog]

Firehorse, I presume you would maintain the same flippant attitude if your loved ones were to be involved in a fatal accident?:mad:

[Squawk7777]

Going back to the accident, I doubt it very much that it was an Antonov. I am not an expert with Russian aircraft, but I'd rather assume the mighty IL-76(M)...

Condolences to all - regardless of their religion, views, etc. :(

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[prattbrat]

Not sure where the AN came from but most of the Iranian (IRNA) sources say it was IL. Bet it was.
Sad day indeed.


http://www.irna.com/en/head/030220005437.ehe.shtml

[VP8]

Minor heart attack here as we had Antonov in area, thankfully not ours..

Thoughts with all the families concerned though. In aviation it is a sad day wether East or West

VEEPS :sad:

[hailstone]

an-70 i was told, but that seems too small for that many troops

soldiers or not - R.I.P.

(and get firehorse's post deleted)

[BRISTOLRE]

Anyone any updates on what type of aircraft it was?
I must have been something large and probably western to be carrying this amount of troops. There is no "Antonov" that can carry this number of people. IL76 is a freight aircraft and unlikely to carry this many even if seat pallets were fitted. IL86 sounds more feasible. Having said that the Iranian mil did operate some B747 classics some time ago, a possiblity?

[cargosales]

Guess it has to be an Il-86. Up to 350 pax on them.

Sad regardless of who is on it.

CS

[Volume]

From IRNA :

Kerman, Feb 20, IRNA -- An Iranian military aircraft, operated by
the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC), crashed near this
central city Wednesday evening, killing all 302 people aboard.
The Ilyushin airliner was on a domestic flight to Kerman from the
southeastern Zahedan in Sistan Baluchestan province near Pakistan
border. It went down as it prepared to land at the Kerman airport.
The crash occurred at 18:24 (1454 GMT) some 35 km to the
southeast of Kerman. Search teams found early Thursday (ed.) part of
the debris, including the plane's wing near a tunnel which cuts
through local mountains.
"All those aboard were the personnel of Division 41 of Sarallah of
the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps," Kerman governor, Mohammad Ali
Karimi, told IRNA here, adding 18 of those aboard were the crew.
He said the pilot had lost contact with air traffic controllers
at the Kerman airport shortly before preparing to land in a bad
weather.
Head of the control tower at the Kerman airport said strong winds
blew at the time of descent, which coincided with the landing of a
Tupolev airplane.
"In his last radio contact, the pilot said 'I am trying to
approach the airport; maybe the weather condition will get better'.
At that moment, the contact was lost," the Kerman governor said.
He said police and relief forces in Kerman had been put on alert
and rescue and search teams had been dispatched to the crash site.
The head of Kerman's Red Crescent Society, Ahmad Dabbagh-Zadeh,
said 60 relief workers of his office had set out for snow-covered
Sirach slopes in search of the bodies.
"Although the Sirach mountains are hard to reach and covered
with snow, the relief workers have decided to find the bodies in the
darkness of the night," he said, adding army helicopters in Kerman are
also ready to start search operations as soon as there is daylight.
The Iranian cabinet, in a statement, offered condolences to the
nation and the bereaved families over the "tragic event in which a
group of IRGC brothers" were killed.
The crash came as Iran prepared to celebrate the Eve of Qadir,
which marks Prophet Mohammad's appointment of first imam of Shi'ite
Muslims, Imam Ali (AS), as his spiritual heir.
Iran's aviation fleet mostly uses American-made Boeings, purchased
before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. US unilateral sanctions against
the Islamic Republic, however, have forced the country to turn to
Russian-made aircraft.
On February 12, 2002, a Tupolev-154 crashed on jagged mountains
when it was on a flight to Khorramabad from Tehran, killing all 119 on
board.
Twelve days later, an Ilyushin-76, on a flight to the central city
of Isfahan from the northeastern city of Mashhad with 230 people on
board, made an emergency landing shortly after take-off when a fire
broke out in the plane.
No one was injured in the incident, but six passengers taken by
panic were rushed to hospital and the fire was extinguished on time by
the airport's fire fighters.
In May, 2002, a Russian-built Yak-40 plane on its way to northern
Iran from Tehran crashed with 30 people on board, including the then
roads and transport minister, Rahman Dadman. No one survived the
disaster.

Son still no exact type of aircraft mentioned.

:( sad story, condolences to all involved

:mad: Normally an U.S. gunship is reqired to kill such a large amount of iranian people in an iranian airplane in iranian airspace. Never forget the 290 innocent civilians killed on July 3rd 1988 by the ´great nation´ playing war games all over the world bringing others their ´way of life´ at any price, especially if the others have to pay it ...

[LGW Vulture]

Whilst this a decent piece of News finding Volume, there's no real need to spout Anti-US rhetoric on your post.

Ill-timed and misplaced. Many threads elsewhere on here for you to shout from the rooftops! :rolleyes:

[Squawk7777]

It seems it was an IL-76 that crashed. Apparently, most accidents regarding this a/c type are due to limited part availablity outside Russia and uncertified/bogus parts obtained on the black market and bad pilot training. It was reported that Iran does not have an IL-76 simulator :eek: It was also said that there was no IL-76 accident caused by other reasons than the ones mentioned above. I can't verify these statements yet.

There's no chance that Iran can buy Boeing aircraft. The US imposed a trade embargo on Iran since the late 70s or early 80s (not sure).

Does anyone know if this airport is equipped with an ILS? or what kind of STAR and non-precision approaches this airport has? MSA etc? Anybody with Iran plates out there?

So far, it sounds like a (classic :( ) CFIT to me ...

7 7 7 7

edited (more info on the IL-76/78):

Il-76 CANDID
Il-78 MIDAS

The Il-76 Candid entered service with the former Soviet air force in 1974. The wings are high-mounted, swept-back, and tapered with blunt tips and a slight negative slant. Four turbofan engines are mounted on pylons under and extending beyond wings’ leading edges. The fuselage is long, round, and tapering to the rear, featuring a rounded nose with radome on the chin. The bottom portion of nose glassed-in. The tail flats are swept-back, tapered, and high-mounted on a swept-back, with the tapered tail fin forming a T.

The ll-76MF(TF) is the latest development of the popular cargo aircraft and features a 6.6 meter fuselage extension which increases the size of the cargo compartment by 1.3 to 1.5 times, while new PS-90A-76 turbofans each provide 16 tonnes of thrust. The lower fuel consumption of the new engines increase fuel efficiency by 30%, permitting a 25% increase in range. Furthermore, the additional power increases the maximum take-off weight to 210 tonnes and the payload to 52 ton. Noise and emission levels meet ICAO standard. The ll-76MD and ll-76TD are unique in their class and they can carry cargo weighing up to 50 tonnes over ranges of up to 4000 km.

In addition to the Candid, other versions of the aircraft include the A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning platform, and the Il-78 Midas aerial refueling tanker. The Midas is a three-point tanker probe and drogue based on (or converted from) the airframe of the Il-76MD military freighter, carrying a maximum payload of 48,000 kg. This new aerial-refueling tanker aircraft began development in teh early 1980s. When deployed, the new tanker supported tactical and strategic aircraft and significantly improved the ability of Soviet aircraft to conduct longer range operations. The former Soviet Union's only operational Il-78M regiment was based in Ukraine, which retained the aircraft after independence. Only a handful remained in Russian hands.

more info
here (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/il-76.htm)

[firehorse]

Bad form - Apologies to all offended.

FH.

[prattbrat]

Try this site for some of the info.


http://www.wapf.com/world/OIKK.html

And

http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=IR32573

[Squawk7777]

OIKK...

Looks like VOR and NDB approaches only; probably in a non-radar environment. CFIT. Sad. :(

7 7 7 7

[Airbubba]

>>Normally an U.S. gunship is reqired to kill such a large amount of iranian people in an iranian airplane in iranian airspace. Never forget the 290 innocent civilians killed on July 3rd 1988 by the ´great nation´ playing war games all over the world bringing others their ´way of life´ at any price, especially if the others have to pay it ...<<

Hear, hear... we should all oppose the Great Satan...

I apologize for my earlier comments which may have been construed as favorable to the U.S.