An IranAir passenger flight carrying 106 passengers crashed earlier today while attempting an emergency landing in the middle of a severe snowstorm outside the city of Orumiyeh in Western Azerbaijan.
Iranian media reported that 71 people onboard died and 35 survived with light to serious injuries.
The plane took off late owing to poor weather conditions on a direct flight from Tehran to Orumiyeh, 460 miles in a northwesterly direction.
The aircraft was an old Boeing 727, which has been out of production in the United States for more than a couple of decades.
Iranian airlines have frequent incidents of aircraft failure due to an aging fleet and poor maintenance. Many of the planes still in operation, especially the Boeings, were purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Since then, US sanctions have made the replacement and upkeep of these planes difficult, and Iran has continued to fly them.
If it is determined that mechanical failure had a part to play in this tragedy, this is another example of the steep price ordinary Iranians have to pay for the political situation they find themselves in.
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And as far as I know, Iranian carriers follow adequate inspection procedures, unlike many countries.
So there is no way which anyone could in any way or means blame the SANCTIONS against the mullahs' regime. These are the same criminals who are giving $25,000,000.00 each month to the Hizbollah in Lebenon and millions more to other terrorist groups around the world. The money which should be used for the SAFETIES of the IRANIANS themselves. If there is someone to be blamed, there is no one else but the MULLAHS themselves.
I don't, either, it's still one more instance where the tragedy overwhelms the anger, at least for the moment.
It is nevertheless true that US has targeted Iran for extreme even brutal interference ever since the 1950's. We still remember Mossadegh, don't we?
It bears repeating that the "U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from updating its 30-year-old American aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes as well." (Globe & Mail, ca.)
Collateral damage comes in many unpredictable and incalculable shapes and forms. Ask the fleeing Iraqi Christians crashing off the shores of Australia just a week ago, or look at dead and the burnt at the air-crash in Iran yesterday.
Iran is an oil-rich nation which spend untold billions to upgrade its military aircraft and missiles. It could've done the same with its civilian fleet.
http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/01/10/iran-probes-iranair-passenger-plane-crash/
Fault of Iranian totalitarian government who's got a lots of sparkling missiles and and a fleet of 30 year old civilian planes.
I am sure Ahmadinejad and the military and religious elite travel in brand new planes.
Tell us what you "journalist" think about U.S. sanctions against selling passenger planes to Iran. But then, you couldn't say it, could you?
In that time the Iranians have purchased 50 Fokker and Airbus airliners from Europe and have had the opportunity to buy many more yet they chose to continue to fly a handful of planes they were unable to adequately maintain.
If Iran could not purchase the required spare parts and servicing for the Boeing planes then the planes should never have been flown.
Do not blame America for Iranian irresponsibility.
Incredibly irresponsible to lash out like that and score cheap political points. Also, since we are going to " go there"....funny..all this money being funneled to hezbollah, hamas, etc..but not enough to fix your own commercial airplane fleets? a little self criticism like we do here in the U.S always works better than instantly blaming another country or people.
I would like to see some class action suits being presented to those institutions and companies that have a direct or indirect hand in Iran Air crashes. Perhaps that will make them think twice.
This is not an ice cream chain. This is a cover for their terrorist activities of these criminal mullahs!
Those who feel that the legitimacy of a government comes only from how closely they follow the dictates of the 'only remaining superpower' will say it is because they live under an illegitimate government.
Those who take the view that the legitimacy of a government comes from that government serving the needs of its people will say it is because they live under a government that dared to not heel when told to by the superpowers.
And the reality is that, if the reports that this flight took off in severely bad weather for a destination that was also suffering severely bad weather are true, the cause for this, like many similar crashes throughout the world, is the ability of humans to convince themselves that running risks is somehow risk free.