Second Iranian plane crash in 10 days kills 17

AN IRANIAN passenger plane burst into flames on landing at an airport in northern Iran, killing at least 17 passengers, in the country’s second plane tragedy this month, state media reported.

The burning plane skidded off the runway of the airport in the city of Mashhad, according to the IRNA news agency.

At least another 19 people were injured in the incident and the remaining passengers were evacuated.

The crash comes 10 days after another plane crash in northern Iran, in which 168 people died.

Footage from Iran’s Press TV showed the plane sitting at an angle, its tail awkwardly on the ground and the mangled front end pointing upward. The rest of the craft appeared largely intact.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but an airport official said it was caused by a technical glitch, state media reported.

The Russian-made Ilyushin-62 plane from the privately owned Aria Airlines was carrying 153 passengers and flew from the capital Tehran to the northeastern city of Mashhad, 1,000 kilometers away.

The manager of Aria Airlines was reportedly killed in the crash. It was the latest in a string of deadly crashes in recent years that have highlighted Iran’s difficulties in maintaining its aging fleet of planes.

Iranian airlines, including state-run ones, are chronically strapped for cash, and maintenance has suffered, experts say.

US sanctions prevent Iran from updating its 30-year-old American aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes as well. The country has come to rely on Russian aircraft, many of them Soviet-era planes that are harder to get parts for since the Soviet Union’s fall.

Iran’s worst crash came in February 2003 and also involved a Russian-made Ilyushin that ploughed into the mountains of south-eastern Iran, killing 302 aboard – mostly members of the elite Revolutionary Guard. Some of the jets in Iran’s fleet are US-made craft bought before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which led to a cut-off in ties between the nations. US sanctions since prevent Iran from buying parts for those planes or new ones.

In December 2005, 115 people were killed when a pre-1979 US-made C-130 plane, crashed into a 10-storey building near Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.