150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

[KanadaHye]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

Look at the size of that hole... damn.

[KanadaHye]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

Iranian plane crash victims include 2 Canadians

A Toronto woman and her three-year-old son were among the 168 people killed in a plane crash in northern Iran on Wednesday.

Vhaik Khachik confirmed to CBC News from Tehran that his wife Nana Antasyam and their son, Edward Khachik, were on the flight. They were headed to Armenia to visit relatives at the time of the crash.

"My wife was beautiful. She was a nice woman," he said.




Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, however, has not yet confirmed that any Canadians were aboard the Russian-made aircraft.

Meanwhile, authorities recovered two heavily damaged black boxes belonging to the airplane.

A search is still ongoing for a third black box, state-run Press TV quoted lead investigator Ahmad Majidi as saying.

The two recorders could shed light on what happened in the final minutes of the flight. The cause of the crash is still unknown.

Despite the damage incurred by the black boxes, experts are nonetheless trying to extract information from them, Majidi said.

"If efforts to retrieve data from the boxes fail, they will be sent back to the country that has produced them so that they could be repaired in order to find the reason behind the crash," he said, without elaborating. The Press TV report gave no further details.

Crashed shortly after takeoff
Caspian Airlines flight 7908 crashed outside a village near the town Qazvin around 16 minutes after taking off from Tehran at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It was bound for the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane's tail on fire in the air as it circled to find a place to land.

The Tupolev jet's impact plowed a deep, long trench into agricultural fields outside the village of Jannat Abad, and the aircraft was blasted to bits. Flaming wreckage, body parts and personal items were strewn over a 200-metre area.

Most of the passengers aboard the airplane were Iranians, although seven were from Armenia and Georgia, Press TV reported.

Armenia on Thursday announced a one-day national state of mourning to mark the death of its citizens in the crash, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.

Aging aircraft
The airplane was 22-year-old TU-154M. Russia produced 900 TU-154s until production was halted in 1996.

Iran has suffered a number of high-profile aircraft crashes in recent years. Many civilian and military aircraft currently in use are either ancient U.S. jets or Soviet-era relics.

Iran has placed some of the blame for its poor aviation safety record on sanctions imposed by the United States, claiming they have hampered efforts to perform maintenance and obtain spare parts.

The crash is Iran's worst since February 2003, when a Russian-made Ilyushin 76 carrying members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran, killing 302 people aboard. That crash was a sign of how maintenance problems have also affected Iran's military.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/0...-boxes741.html

[SilverLining]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

Too many mishaps have been taking place when it comes to aviation. Nothing is ever 100% safe, but my goodness! There's clearly something lacking in safety codes or upkeep of air-crafts, amongst other things. It is a tragedy when the mighty dollar is more important than the safety of human lives. May their souls rest in peace.

[Pedro Xaramillo]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

My deepest condolences to the families who lost members, both Persians and Armenians, my thoughts go out to you and my deepest sympathies for what occurred

[Haykakan]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

This year is on track to be the worst airline safety year in over a decade.

[MrHyeSev]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

What is going on with people dying in airplanes
Very very sad.

[jgk3]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

My condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

I was waiting for us to talk about this because I wanted to know the situation with the airlines. It is a sad reality that I didn't have the slightest clue about until this incident.

[Pazooki]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

Tsavaktsumem Lucin jan

This sucks.

Rest in Peace to all who lost their lives

[LebHye]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

May all their souls rest in peace
So sorry Lucin jan

tsavaktsutyunners

[londontsi]

Re: 150 passengers on board a flight from Tehran to Yerevan feared dead

I am sad and sorry for the loss.
My condolences.

The airplane was Russian build therefore lack of spares should not have been a reason.
I guess that won't make much difference for their loved ones.