Digging Into Iran's Latest Plane Crash
Heshmat Alavi , CONTRIBUTOR Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
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Such a crash in any ordinary country prompts hurried measures to save even one life. Iran is no ordinary country.
More disturbing is how Iran's regime takes advantage of such disasters to divert attention from its own calamites.
TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 18: Relatives of passengers on board the crashed passenger plane mourn at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran on February 18, 2018. An Iranian passenger plane with 66 people on board crashed in central Iran according to local media. The Aseman Airlines plane flying from Tehran to the south-western city of Yasuj went down in a mountainous area in Semirom district in Isfahan province, Iran's Emergency Department said in a statement. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
On Sunday, February 18th, Flight No. 3704 of Aseman Airlines, Iran's 3rd airline company with a fleet of 29 planes, left Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at 8:03 am local time, heading for Yasuj. The plane, with 66 aboard, including six crew, never reached its destination, crashing into a mountainous region near the town of Semirom, close to Isfahan, south-central Iran.
All on board were confirmed perished as rescuers reached the site on foot at an altitude of around 4,000 meters (4,375 yards) after authorities failed to land a helicopter failed on the snowy mountain.
20 Feb
Aerospacetalk@Aerospacetalk
Breaking.
The wreckage of #EP3704 has been found at an altitude of 4000m, NE of mount Dena.
.#IranAsemanAirlines https://twitter.com/iranian_rcs/status/965843300572913664 …
Aerospacetalk@Aerospacetalk
According to several reports, the position of the wreckage of #EP3704 is:
304208N - 514293E
. pic.twitter.com/Hu4Sia0zSX
8:42 AM - Feb 20, 2018
8
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Such a crash in any ordinary country prompts hurried measures to save even one life. Iran is no ordinary country.
Many questions and concerns are circling since the crash, especially since Iran's regime is not known for its transparency.
1) Why did authorities rush to announce all passengers dead before the crash site was found?
One family member of a crash victim was seen weeping and saying she was at the mountain and no rescue team was sent. They called from the crash site and said we are alive, she added.
19 Feb
Heshmat Alavi@HeshmatAlavi
Replying to @HeshmatAlavi
A family member of the recent #IranPlaneCrash victim asks #Iran's Transportation Minister:
"Were you willing to board that plane?"
Before getting an answer the minister's bodyguards push him away. pic.twitter.com/OqPoLTF11Z
Heshmat Alavi@HeshmatAlavi
A family member of the recent #IranPlaneCrash victims desperately cries and says she was at the mountain & no rescue team was there.
"I begged to send a helicopter. They're alive. They called and said we are alive." pic.twitter.com/ZZlRkKtq6J
5:10 PM - Feb 19, 2018
47
57 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
2) If weather conditions grounded helicopters and prevented search and rescue teams to rush to the scene instantly, why was the flight given a green light?
Bad weather disrupted several Tehran flights on Sunday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Authorities at Abadan International Airport in southwestern Iran were also forced to ground two domestic flights due to pollution that severely reduced visibility to literally two meters.
Iranian MP Mohammad Damadi has reportedly said mismanagement in Aseman Airlines can be one of the reasons behind the crash, adding the Weather Forecast Organization had warned of dangerous conditions around the mountainous area.
Damadi adds many Aseman Airlines pilots had filed complaints & more than 30 very capable pilots had resigned due to mismanagement.3) Human error is also ruled out. The flight pilot, Hojatollah Fooled, successfully landed a similar plane despite an engine problem in 2013, according to an Aseman Airline Instagram post, adding Fooled was "very experienced."
"On a previous flight from Yasuj to Tehran in 2013 he had an issue where the second engine of the ATR72 went out," the post adds. "But he managed to land the plane safely at Yasuj airport."
4) The translation of this Farsi tweet reads: "Aseman Airlines did not provide the budget needed for the ELT system on this plane. The system went inactive. Only a few planes flying abroad have the ELT system active. ILNA"
This text is citing the state-run Iran Labor news agency.
Mira Ghorbanifar@miraghorbanifar
شرکت آسمان هزینه فعال بودن سیستم مکان‌یاب هواپیمارانپرداخت،سیستم غیرفعال شد.تنهاچندهواپیمادرکشور آن هم هواپیماهایی که درمسیرهای خارجی پرواز دارندELT فعال وروشن دارند./ایلنا
متن راچندبارمیخوانم تا باورکنم. #آسمان هزینه رانداده وسیستم غیرفعال شده،به همین راحتی.#سقوط_هواپیما
8:57 PM - Feb 18, 2018
617
101 people are talking about this
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ELTs are emergency transmitters carried aboard most general aviation aircraft in the world today. These devices are designed to transmit a distress signal in the event of an aircraft incident.
5) Only one drone was deployed in the aftermath of the crash, according to CNN. This raises concerns as Iran is currently in the middle of a regional crisis of a drone being downed by Israeli air force after flying from Syria into that country's airspace. How is it that Tehran has the budget to provide capable drones to take on such sensitive missions abroad and yet its rescue teams lack the means to carry out their duties?
6) This plane was grounded for seven years to undergo repairs and overhaul, according to the The Guardian. Furthermore, Aseman Airlines flights are banned to enter the European Union due to safety reasons. Why was this plane suddenly allowed into service only months ago?
To add insult to injury, Iranian news website Roozarooz reported the aircraft suffered “technical problems midair during a recent flight a few weeks ago” and had to make an emergency landing, according to The New York Post.
Questions regarding the ATR-72 planes' suitability to fly over mountainous regions are already raised in various reports.
In an interview with EuroNews on Wednesday, ATR spokesman David Vargas said Iran has not purchased this company's new generation planes available since 2011. The Tehran-Yasuj plane was an old generation plane, he added.
Heshmat Alavi , CONTRIBUTOR Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
TWEET THIS
Such a crash in any ordinary country prompts hurried measures to save even one life. Iran is no ordinary country.
More disturbing is how Iran's regime takes advantage of such disasters to divert attention from its own calamites.
TEHRAN, IRAN - FEBRUARY 18: Relatives of passengers on board the crashed passenger plane mourn at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran on February 18, 2018. An Iranian passenger plane with 66 people on board crashed in central Iran according to local media. The Aseman Airlines plane flying from Tehran to the south-western city of Yasuj went down in a mountainous area in Semirom district in Isfahan province, Iran's Emergency Department said in a statement. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
On Sunday, February 18th, Flight No. 3704 of Aseman Airlines, Iran's 3rd airline company with a fleet of 29 planes, left Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at 8:03 am local time, heading for Yasuj. The plane, with 66 aboard, including six crew, never reached its destination, crashing into a mountainous region near the town of Semirom, close to Isfahan, south-central Iran.
All on board were confirmed perished as rescuers reached the site on foot at an altitude of around 4,000 meters (4,375 yards) after authorities failed to land a helicopter failed on the snowy mountain.
20 Feb
Aerospacetalk@AerospacetalkBreaking.
The wreckage of #EP3704 has been found at an altitude of 4000m, NE of mount Dena.
.#IranAsemanAirlines https://twitter.com/iranian_rcs/status/965843300572913664 …
Aerospacetalk@AerospacetalkAccording to several reports, the position of the wreckage of #EP3704 is:
304208N - 514293E
. pic.twitter.com/Hu4Sia0zSX
8:42 AM - Feb 20, 2018
8
See Aerospacetalk's other Tweets
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Such a crash in any ordinary country prompts hurried measures to save even one life. Iran is no ordinary country.
Many questions and concerns are circling since the crash, especially since Iran's regime is not known for its transparency.
1) Why did authorities rush to announce all passengers dead before the crash site was found?
One family member of a crash victim was seen weeping and saying she was at the mountain and no rescue team was sent. They called from the crash site and said we are alive, she added.
19 Feb
Heshmat Alavi@HeshmatAlaviReplying to @HeshmatAlavi
A family member of the recent #IranPlaneCrash victim asks #Iran's Transportation Minister:
"Were you willing to board that plane?"
Before getting an answer the minister's bodyguards push him away. pic.twitter.com/OqPoLTF11Z
Heshmat Alavi@HeshmatAlaviA family member of the recent #IranPlaneCrash victims desperately cries and says she was at the mountain & no rescue team was there.
"I begged to send a helicopter. They're alive. They called and said we are alive." pic.twitter.com/ZZlRkKtq6J
5:10 PM - Feb 19, 2018
47
57 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
2) If weather conditions grounded helicopters and prevented search and rescue teams to rush to the scene instantly, why was the flight given a green light?
Bad weather disrupted several Tehran flights on Sunday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Authorities at Abadan International Airport in southwestern Iran were also forced to ground two domestic flights due to pollution that severely reduced visibility to literally two meters.
Iranian MP Mohammad Damadi has reportedly said mismanagement in Aseman Airlines can be one of the reasons behind the crash, adding the Weather Forecast Organization had warned of dangerous conditions around the mountainous area.
Damadi adds many Aseman Airlines pilots had filed complaints & more than 30 very capable pilots had resigned due to mismanagement.3) Human error is also ruled out. The flight pilot, Hojatollah Fooled, successfully landed a similar plane despite an engine problem in 2013, according to an Aseman Airline Instagram post, adding Fooled was "very experienced."
"On a previous flight from Yasuj to Tehran in 2013 he had an issue where the second engine of the ATR72 went out," the post adds. "But he managed to land the plane safely at Yasuj airport."
4) The translation of this Farsi tweet reads: "Aseman Airlines did not provide the budget needed for the ELT system on this plane. The system went inactive. Only a few planes flying abroad have the ELT system active. ILNA"
This text is citing the state-run Iran Labor news agency.
Mira Ghorbanifar@miraghorbanifarشرکت آسمان هزینه فعال بودن سیستم مکان‌یاب هواپیمارانپرداخت،سیستم غیرفعال شد.تنهاچندهواپیمادرکشور آن هم هواپیماهایی که درمسیرهای خارجی پرواز دارندELT فعال وروشن دارند./ایلنا
متن راچندبارمیخوانم تا باورکنم. #آسمان هزینه رانداده وسیستم غیرفعال شده،به همین راحتی.#سقوط_هواپیما
8:57 PM - Feb 18, 2018
617
101 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
ELTs are emergency transmitters carried aboard most general aviation aircraft in the world today. These devices are designed to transmit a distress signal in the event of an aircraft incident.
5) Only one drone was deployed in the aftermath of the crash, according to CNN. This raises concerns as Iran is currently in the middle of a regional crisis of a drone being downed by Israeli air force after flying from Syria into that country's airspace. How is it that Tehran has the budget to provide capable drones to take on such sensitive missions abroad and yet its rescue teams lack the means to carry out their duties?
6) This plane was grounded for seven years to undergo repairs and overhaul, according to the The Guardian. Furthermore, Aseman Airlines flights are banned to enter the European Union due to safety reasons. Why was this plane suddenly allowed into service only months ago?
To add insult to injury, Iranian news website Roozarooz reported the aircraft suffered “technical problems midair during a recent flight a few weeks ago” and had to make an emergency landing, according to The New York Post.
Questions regarding the ATR-72 planes' suitability to fly over mountainous regions are already raised in various reports.
In an interview with EuroNews on Wednesday, ATR spokesman David Vargas said Iran has not purchased this company's new generation planes available since 2011. The Tehran-Yasuj plane was an old generation plane, he added.
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