IRAN AIR TRAGEDY

65 dead in mount slam

An Iranian passenger plane, which had reportedly suffered technical problems in the past few weeks, crashed amid heavy fog in a southern mountainous region of the country Sunday, killing all 65 aboard.

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3705 went down 50 minutes into its planned 485-mile trip from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport to the southern city of Yasuj. It was said to have hit Mount Dena, near the city of Semirom, not far from its destination.

The airline reported 59 passengers, including a child, and six crew killed but noted that with officials unable to reach the crash site, the death toll could not be confirmed.

The airline dismissed the possibility of a technical failure and blamed severe weather, Al Jazeera reported.

But Iranian news Web site Roozarooz reported that the aircraft had “technical problems midair during a recent flight a few weeks ago” and had to make an emergency landing.

The twin-engine turboprop ATR-72 had recently rejoined the airline’s fleet after undergoing repairs for seven years, The Guardian reported.

Aviation specialists suspected the plane could have been in the wrong position as it made its descent.

“Basically, it’s a failure of navigation. An airplane hitting mountains in clouds is like a ship hitting rocks,” aviation-safety specialist David Learmount told Al Jazeera.

The fog also hampered 12 teams that were sent to locate debris or bodies but had yet to find anything Sunday. And with the weather making it unsafe for helicopters, the Red Crescent Society said it was planning to send drones to the crash site.

State TV showed families waiting anxiously for news at Yasuj Airport.

“Please pray for them to come back alive,” a young woman tearfully told a reporter.

President Hassan Rouhani called for a probe.