Commercial Airliner Crashes in Iran, 168 Feared Dead

TehranA Russian-built commercial airliner reported to be carrying 168 passengers and crew crashed early this morning in Iran about 90 miles northwest of the capital of Tehran. Early reports indicate Caspian Air Flight 7908 was en route to Yerevan, Armenia and was just 16 minutes into its flight from Tehran when the plane crash occurred at 11:33am this morning Tehran time.

All are feared dead.

Earlier reports suggested that 150 people had died, but later bulletins carried by both CNN and the New York Times have pegged the death toll at 168.

The aircraft involved in the plane crash was reported to be a Russian-built Tupolev airliner. According to CNN a prior air accident involving a Tupolev aircraft occurred three years ago when an Iranian flight crashed and caught fire while landing. Quoting statistics from the web site airdisaster.com, there were 147 people on board when that plane went down in 2006. Of those on board, 29 people died.

According to footage shot at the scene of today's plane crash by state-run Press TV the crash site is described as a huge crater in the earth scattered with pieces of the fuselage. Some are said to have seen tattered passports lying about.

Iranian Press TV reported that the plane went down in broad daylight near the Iranian city of Qazvin, the largest city in Qazvin province and serves as the provincial capital with a population of 330,000.

There are no reports as to potential death, or injury of anyone on the ground.

A report issued by the Associated Press (AP) and carried in the New York Times this morning describes a spokesperson for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization that there were 153 passengers on board the plane, which had a crew of 15. Iranian Press TV, according to CNN, quoted the director of Qazvin Emergency Services Hossein Behzadpour as speculating all on board were "most probably" dead.

"It is highly likely that all passengers on the flight were killed," he said.

The AP report refers to footage of the crash site aired on the state-run Press TV as showing the doomed plane in pieces, at the end of a deep trench in an agricultural field that was carved into the earth when the aircraft cratered into the ground and burst into flames. Just 16 minutes into the flight, the plane would have been carrying a full compliment of fuel. The only recognizable piece of the plane was a large chunk of wing, but the remainder of the plane appeared to present as small pieces.

The AP report carried in the New York Times this morning identified Caspian Air as a joint Russia-Iranian venture. Caspian Air aircraft are said to have maintenance protocols that are much better than other Iranian air carriers, which according to the AP report have trouble securing spare parts for aging aircraft due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the US.

The Russian-built Tupolev aircraft are said to be less impaired by US sanctions, when it comes to maintenance.

At the time of this writing passenger manifests had not been released. Names or nationalities were not disclosed.

We will continue to monitor this developing plane crash story.