Iran Holds Inquiry into Deadly Plane Crash
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iran Civil Aviation Organization committee convened on Monday to probe into the crash of a Sepahan Airlines turboprop plane in which 39 people were killed.
The plane, an Iran-140 of Ukraine’s Antonov origin, crashed on Sunday morning in west of the capital Tehran, shortly after take-off from the Mehrabad Airport.
The aircraft had 48 passengers and crew on board, of whom 39 have been pronounced dead so far.
On Monday morning, a meeting was held in Tehran to set up an inquiry into the fatal incident. Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhondi and a number of other relevant officials attended the session.
A 5-member fact-finding team is now tasked with submitting a report on the crash.
In the meantime, Head of Civil Aviation Organization Alireza Jahangirian has imposed a ban on the utility of An-140 planes in the country’s civil airports.
The ban, which took effect on Monday, follows a decree issued by President Hassan Rouhani.
Hours after the crash on Sunday, the president ordered the grounding of the entire fleet of the country’s Iran-140 planes.
According to Rouhani’s order, the ban will remain in place until full investigation is conducted into the cause of the crash.
The Antonov An-140 commercial passenger airplane is a twin-engine turbojet aircraft, which can accommodate up to 100 passengers.
After purchasing the production license for the An-140 from Ukraine in 2000, Iran built its first Iran-140 passenger plane in 2003.
