All 65 aboard feared dead in Iran plane crash
TEHRAN, IRAN — An Iranian commercial airplane brought back into service only months ago after being grounded for seven years crashed Sunday in a foggy, mountainous region of southern Iran, and officials said they feared all 65 people on board were killed.
The crash of the Aseman Airlines ATR-72 marks yet another fatal aviation disaster for Iran, which for years was barred from buying airplane parts for needed maintenance due to Western sanctions over its contested nuclear program.
Its nuclear accord with world powers allows it to get those parts and the country has made deals worth tens of billions of dollars for new aircraft. However, President Donald Trump’s refusal to recertify the deal has injected uncertainty into those sales while Iranians still fly in aging aircraft.
The ATR-72, a twinengine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, went down near its destination of the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 780 kilometers (485 miles) south of the Iranian capital, Tehran, where it took off.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, although weather was severe in the area. Dense fog, high winds and heavy snow in the Zagros Mountains made it impossible for rescue crews in helicopters to reach the site Sunday, state television reported.
Aseman Airlines spokesman Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai told state TV that all on board Flight No. EP3704 were killed. Those on board included 59 passengers and six crew members, the staterun IRNA news agency reported Sunday night, lowering the death to 65 from an initially reported 66.
“After searching the area, we learned that unfortunately ... our dear passengers had lost their lives,” Tabatabai said.