Iran Air Tours Flight 956
Iran Air Tours | |
Registration | EP-MBS |
---|---|
Flight origin | Tehran-Mehrabad Airport Tehran, Iran |
Destination | Khorramabad Airport, Khorramabad, Iran |
Occupants | 119 |
Passengers | 107 |
Crew | 12 |
Fatalities | 119 |
Survivors | 0 |
Iran Air Tours Flight 956 was a
Aircraft
The Tupolev TU-154 is the most widely used jetliner in Russia and is widely used throughout the region, generally seating 148 passengers. This crash was the 20th involving a TU-154 since it entered service in the 1970s. The involved aircraft was a TU-154M, with manufacturer number 91A-871, and serial number 08-71. Built by Aviakor, it made its first flight on 21 May 1991 and was delivered to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in June 1991, which assigned the aircraft registration number CCCP-85698 and sent it to the Azerbaijan Department. In 1993 the airliner was re-registered to 4K-85698, the aircraft registration for Azerbaijan as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.[3]
After an overhaul, the aircraft was leased to pay for the work by ARZ-400, which in turn subleased it to the Bulgarian company Balkangtsev in May 2000. The registration was changed to LZ-LTO, and in December 2000, was subleased to another Bulgarian company,
Crash
Flight 956 of Iran Air Tours departed from Tehran to Horremabad at 7:30 a.m.
Aftermath
Shortly after the accident there were calls for the resignation or dismissal of Transport Minister, Ahmad Khorram, as well as the head of the civil aviation organization Behzad Mazheri. About 150 deputies wrote a letter to President Mohammad Khatami, asking him to take the necessary measures to investigate the causes of the accident.[6]
Another reason cited for the catastrophe was the American sanctions against Iran, which prevented Iranian airlines from sourcing spare parts for Boeing aircraft purchased before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. They were forced instead to operate aging post-Soviet era aircraft.[1] Iran Air Tours announced that it was ceasing to operate Tupolev aircraft,[6] but this action was never implemented.
References
- ^ a b c "Iran plane crash kills 117". BBC News. 12 February 2002. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ a b c "Tupolev 154M EP-MBS Sarab-e Do Rah". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "EP-MBS Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154M, MSN 91A871". OneSpotter.com. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "Туполев Ту-154М Бортовой №: EP-MBS" [Tupolev Tu-154M Airborne No.: EP-MBS] (in Russian). Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ "Iranian Passenger Plane Crashes". Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Iran completes recovery of all 119 bodies from plane crash". Retrieved 26 November 2020.