168 Feared Dead Commercial Airliner Crashes in Iran

Tehran: A Russian-built commercial airliner reported to be carrying 168 passengers and crew crashed early this morning in Iran about 90 miles northwest of the capital of Tehran. Early reports indicate Caspian Air Flight 7908 was en route to Yerevan, Armenia and was just 16 minutes into its flight from Tehran when the plane crash occurred at 11:33am this morning Tehran time.

Earlier reports suggested that 150 people had died, but later bulletins carried by both CNN and the New York Times have pegged the death toll at 168.

The aircraft involved in the plane crash was reported to be a Russian-built Tupolev airliner. According to CNN a prior air accident involving a Tupolev aircraft occurred three years ago when an Iranian flight crashed and caught fire while landing. Quoting statistics from the web site airdisaster.com, there were 147 people on board when that plane went down in 2006. Of those on board, 29 people died.

According to footage shot at the scene of today’s plane crash by state-run Press TV the crash site is described as a huge crater in the earth scattered with pieces of the fuselage. Iranian Press TV reported that the plane went down in broad daylight near the Iranian city of Qazvin, the largest city in Qazvin province and serves as the provincial capital with a population of 330,000.

A report issued by the Associated Press (AP) and carried in the New York Times this morning describes a spokesperson for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization that there were 153 passengers on board the plane, which had a crew of 15. Iranian Press TV, according to CNN, quoted the director of Qazvin Emergency Services Hussein Behzadpour as speculating all on board were “most probably” dead.

The only recognizable piece of the plane was a large chunk of wing, but the remainder of the plane appeared to present as small pieces.

The AP report carried in the New York Times this morning identified Caspian Air as a joint Russia-Iranian venture. Caspian Air aircraft are said to have maintenance protocols that are much better than other Iranian air carriers, which according to the AP report have trouble securing spare parts for aging aircraft due to the sanctions imposed on the country by the US.

Air France flight af447 crash

Reading about the Air France crash wherein none were thought to have survived is actually making me quite sad.

I clock in a whole lot of flying time even if I’m supposed to be pretty stationary and I don’t want to be paranoid but I’m not as devil may care as I used to be when I get on a plane, what with this kind of news and the H1N1 virus.

Here is the breakdown of the passenger list of nationalities, which actually includes one Filipino.

Air France Crash 2009, Air France jet crashes and 228 feared dead. An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris is believed to have crashed into the Atlantic on Monday after suffering an electrical failure in a fierce storm.

It is confirmed that all 228 people were killed, it would mark the worst loss of life in Air France's history and civil aviation's worst accidental disaster for more than a decade.

Air France said that on air france flight 447 among 216 passengers, there are 126 men, 82 women, seven children and a baby. The crew was made up of 12 members, including nice cabin crew. In Rio, Air France spokesman Jorge Asuncao said there were 80 Brazilian passengers, 73 French, 18 Germans, nine Italians, six Americans, five Chinese,, four Hungarians, two Spanish, two British, two Moroccans and two Irish.

"The most likely thing is that the plane was hit by lightning. The plane was in a stormy area with strong turbulence, which provoked problems," said Francois Brousse, Air France's director of communications.

Airbus said the A330 has a good safety record- there have never been fatalities on a commercial flight - but in 1994 one crashed during a test flight in southern France, killing seven people on board.

The airline has also established a special toll-free number for the attention of relatives and friends to check if they were on board the flight. The phone number reserved for relatives and friends is:

0800 800 812 in France,
0800 881 20 20 in Brazil,
and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from all other countries.

The official Air France list of nationalities on board flight AF447 is:

Brazilian: 58
French: 61
German: 26
Chinese: 9
Italian: 9
Swiss: 6
British: 5
Lebanese: 5
Hungarian: 4
Irish: 3
Norwegian: 3
Slovakian: 3
American: 2
Moroccan: 2
Spaniard: 2
Polish: 2
Argentinian: 1
Austrian: 1
Belgian: 1
Croation: 1
Danish: 1
Dutch: 1
Estonian: 1
Filipino: 1
Gambian: 1
Icelandic: 1
Canadian: 1
Romanian: 1
Russian: 1
South African: 1
Swedish: 1
Turkish: 1

7 of these are children and 1 baby