Iran Air Flight 277

Iran Air Flight 277

Iran Air Boeing 727 EP-IRP a few days before the accident
Accident summary
Date Sunday, January 9, 2011
Summary Impacted ground on go-around
Site Urmia, Iran
37°37′15″N 45°09′48″E / 37.62083°N 45.16333°E / 37.62083; 45.16333Coordinates: 37°37′15″N 45°09′48″E / 37.62083°N 45.16333°E / 37.62083; 45.16333
Passengers 93
Crew 12
Injuries (non-fatal) 26
Fatalities 77[1]
Survivors 28
Aircraft type Boeing 727-286Adv
Operator Iran Air
Registration EP-IRP
Flight origin Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran, Iran
Destination Urmia Airport, Urmia, Iran

Iran Air Flight 277 was a passenger flight which crashed near Urmia Airport, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran, on January 9, 2011. 77 of the 105 aboard died. The aircraft involved, a Boeing 727-286Adv, was operating Iran Air's scheduled domestic service from Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran, to Urmia. It crashed after a go-around was initiated during final approach, in poor weather conditions.[2]

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 727, registration EP-IRP, built in 1974. The aircraft had spent a long time out of service. It was impounded at Baghdad, Iraq from 1984 to 1990, and then placed in storage from 1991 to 2002. It was then overhauled and returned to service.[3]

Accident

The flight was travelling between Tehran and Urmia[4] and crashed on final approach near Urmia Airport.[2][5] The accident occurred at around 19:45 local time (16:15 UTC), and was reportedly caused by poor weather.[4] The aircraft had missed its first attempt at landing; it either crashed during a go-around,[6] or while attempting to return to Tehran.[7] The weather conditions at the time of the accident included snow and low visibility.[8] Upon impact, the aircraft broke into multiple pieces, though without fire or explosions.[9] There were differing initial reports as to the type of aircraft that crashed, with either a Fokker 100 or a Boeing 727 claimed to have crashed,[10] although the aircraft was later confirmed to be a Boeing 727.[2]

Initial reports of the number of people on board were unclear. RIA Novosti reported 95 passengers were on the aircraft,[10] Reuters reported 156 passengers,[10] and the Associated Press claimed 105 passengers.[10] Later reports put the total at either 105[6] or 106[11] people on board, with between 10[6] and 12[11] crew and either 95[6] or 94[11] passengers. The Iran Civil Aviation Organization stated the day after the crash that a total of 93 passengers and 12 crew were on board, according to the manifest of the flight.[12]

Casualties

At least 77 people were killed and 26 were injured.[4] Rescue efforts were complicated by heavy snow in the area. A local official stated that "[the] problem at the moment for rescue work is the heavy snow," which he said was around 70 cm (28 in) deep at the site of the crash.[4] In the aftermath of the crash, 36 ambulances and 11 hospitals were utilized in the rescue operations.[6]

Passengers

Nationalities of passengers

Nationality Fatalities Total
Passengers Crew
 Iraq 4 5 9
 Iran 63 10[13] 73
Total Fatalities: 77

Investigation

Iran ordered an inquiry into the crash.[14] A day after the accident, searchers at the location had obtained both the flight's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.[12] Iran's Transport Ministry stated that the investigation will comprise several working groups which will include specialists in various areas, including aircraft structure, engine parameter recordings and pilot operations. The investigation will be overseen by the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.[7] The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were taken to Tehran for analysis.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bad weather, pilot's lack of vision causes of Iran plane crash". Iranian Students News Association. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Iran Air B722 near Orumiyeh on Jan 9th 2011, impacted terrain during go-around". Aviation Herald. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  3. ↑ airframes.org. "Aircraft Database – EPIRP". Airframes.org. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Iran passenger plane crash 'kills 70'". BBC News. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Iran Air jet reportedly crashes at Urmia". Flight International. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Many feared dead in Iran plane crash". The Guardian. UK. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Inquiry opens into fatal Iran Air 727 crash". Flight International. January 10, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  8. ↑ "EP-IRP Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Plane with 95 people crashes in Iran; 50 survive". The Washington Post. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Iranian Airlines jet with 95 passengers on board crashes, 50 rescued". RIA Novosti. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 "At least 70 killed in Iranian passenger plane crash". Reuters. January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 Kaminiski-Morrow, David (January 10, 2011). "Both recorders retrieved from Iran Air 727 crash site". Flight International. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  13. ↑ IranAir: Crew members that died in the Accident
  14. ↑ "Iran orders air-crash inquiry – Middle East". Al Jazeera English. January 10, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.

External links

External images
Photo of aircraft involved
Photos from crash
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.