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Plane crashes near Tehran's Mehrabad airport killing 48 Plane crashes near Tehran's Mehrabad airport, killing dozens
(about 3 hours later)
A Sepahan Air Iran-140 plane bound for Tabas in northeast Iran has crashed in a residential area after taking off from Tehran's Mehrabad airport, killing all 48 passengers and crew, Iranian state media reported. An Iranian passenger plane has crashed moments after takeoff from Tehran, killing at least 38 on board and narrowly avoiding many more deaths when it fell near a busy market.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the passengers included two infants and three children under the age of 12, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. The plane was headed to the eastern city of Tabas, the IRNA and Fars news agencies said, when it crashed at 9.18am local time (4.48am GMT), after leaving Mehrabad airport.
The plane crashed into the Azad residential block on Mina 6 Boulevard. State television reported at least three people in the area were taken to hospital with burns. It triggered a fireball when it smashed into the capital's Azadi neighbourhood, close to where hundreds of military families live, and only a few hundred metres from a row of shops.
A photograph on IRNA's website showed a huge plume of black smoke billowing over traffic standing at a road intersection. A photograph from the Iran Student News Agency showed a charred tailfin lying on the ground. Iran's deputy transport minister, Ahmad Majidi, said the Antonov An-140 turboprop plane had 40 passengers, including six children, and eight crew on board, and he put the death toll at 38.
A spokesman for Tehran's Fire Department was quoted by IRNA as saying the bodies are being transported to the coroner's office. A fire official initially said all on board had been killed but Fars later reported that 37 bodies were sent to the morgue and IRNA said nine people were hospitalised, two of them critically injured.
IRNA reported that an engine shutdown caused the crash. Iran's aviation sector has suffered repeated crashes which have been blamed by Iranian politicians on international sanctions. The aircraft was operated by Sepahan Airlines and a tailfin bearing the company's dolphin logo could be seen sticking out of the road as security forces cordoned off the crash site where firefighters had doused the flames.
Those sanctions have restricted Iranian carriers from buying new aircraft. For years, planes have been kept in service through parts imported on the black market, cannibalised from other planes or reproduced locally, aviation sources say. Black smoke billowed from the mass of burnt-out twisted metal, with officials saying the plane hit a wall and trees.
The plane that crashed - an Iran-140 - is a locally assembled version of the Antonov-140. "The scene was terrible, with the back of the plane in the middle of the street," one eyewitness said. "But we were lucky because there was a market 500 metres away and a lot of people were there."
Iran's four largest carriers - Iran Air, Iran Aseman Airlines, Mahan Air and Iran Air Tours - all have average fleet ages above 22 years. They serve a market of 76 million people. Another eyewitness told state television: "I was on my motorbike and I heard something behind me. I turned round and it was a plane, so I got on to the ground because it was so close.
US companies Boeing Co and General Electric Co have said they are seeking to export parts to Iran under the agreement for sanctions relief. "With other people, we ran to try and save the passengers but there were two or three loud explosions and a huge fire."
The chief of Iran Air said the airline will need at least 100 passenger jets once sanctions against the country are lifted. Mehrabad airport is near central Tehran and it is by far the country's busiest domestic hub, serving routes to all major Iranian cities.
Mehrabad is located in a western suburb of Tehran and mainly functions as a domestic airport, although it also serves some international routes. Most international passenger flights take off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport, which is located further west of the capital.
Alireza Jahangirian, the head of Iran's civil aviation authority, said: "The plane crashed in trees. There were no casualties on the ground." An investigation is under way, he added.
The Ukrainian-designed An-140 is intended for regional use, has a range of around 1,500 miles (2,400km) and can carry up to 52. Iranian airlines are some of the plane's biggest users.
The Isna news agency reported that the plane in Sunday's crash had been assembled under licence by an Iranian company in Esfahan, a city 450 kilometres south of Tehran.