Iran-140 Sepahan Air passenger plane crashed near Mehrabad airport

Iran-140 Sepahan Air passenger plane crashed on 10 August 2014 near Mehrabad airport, west of Tehran in Iran. At least 39 passengers including 8 crew members died in the crash that occurred after the engine of the plane went out. Nine people were injured in the incident.

The civilian aircraft went down in a residential area after its engine went out shortly after takeoff. Iran-140 aircraft with 40 passengers and 8 crew members on board was flying from Teheran to Tabas, a town in eastern Iran.

About Iran-140
Iran-140 is a twin-engine turboprop aircraft and was generally used for short domestic flights. The plane is based on Ukrainian technology and was assembled under license in Iran. It is a version of the Antonov An-140 regional plane and can carry up to 52 passengers.

Other crashes in Iran that occurred in a decade
• March 2014 – State Aviation Organization’s plane crashed while test flight near tourist resort of Kish Island (four crew members were killed)
• January 2011 - Iran Air Boeing 727 crashed while it tried an emergency landing in snowstorm in northwestern Iran (77 people were killed)
• July 2009 - Russian-made jetliner crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran (168 people were killed)
• February 2003 – Russian-made Ilyushin 76 crashed in the mountains of Southeastern Iran (302 people were killed). The plane was carrying members of the Revolutionary Guard

Iran has blamed the cause for the series of all these crashes on its aging aircraft and their poor maintenance. The region for these aging and maintenance has been caused due to several sanctions imposed on it by the US, Europe and others after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The sanctions of other nations prevent Iran from updating its American aircraft and make it difficult for them to get the European spare parts or planes as well. Due to these sanctions, the country now depends on Russian aircrafts of Soviet-era but it’s hard for them to get parts due to the fall of Soviet Union.