Source: Reuters Author: Zahra Hosseinian 08/15/2009
Subject Concerned: Plane Crash
A training plane crashed west of the Iranian capital Tehran on Aug. 15, killing two people on board, state radio reported.
"A training plane crashed in Karaj at 8 a.m. (03:30GMT) and the two people on board were killed," the radio said, adding the cause of the crash was not yet clear.
Iran suffers from a poor air safety record, with a string of crashes in the past few decades -- many involving Russian-made planes.
On Jul. 15, a Russian-built Tupolev aircraft crashed in Iran on its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and ploughing into farmland killing all 168 people on board. That accident, in which six Armenians and two Georgians were killed, was the worst plane crash in Iran in six years.
Another passenger plane crashed in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Jul. 25, killing 16 people, including 13 crew members.
The passenger plane, an Ilyushin Il-62 from Kazakhstan leased by Iran's Aria Aviation Company, veered from the runway and hit a wall while landing at Mashhad's Hasheminejad Airport.
Iranian media said 30 people were injured in the accident.
U.S. sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft or spares from the West, forcing it to supplement its ageing fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from the former Soviet Union.