Passengers 257 Survivors 0 Date 19 February 2003 Total fatalities 275 (all) Passenger count 257 | Crew 18 Aircraft type Ilyushin Il-76MD Destination Kerman Airport Survivor 0 | |
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Summary CFIT due to pilot error during descent in poor weather Site 35 km (22 mi) SE of Kerman Operator Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Similar Sudan Airways Flight 139, TANS Perú Flight 222, FedEx Express Flight 647, UTAGE Flight 141, Air Algérie Flight 6289 | ||
The 2003 Iran Ilyushin Il-76 crash occurred on 19 February 2003, when an Ilyushin Il-76 crashed in mountainous terrain near Kerman in Iran. The Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution aircraft, registration 15-2280, was flying from Zahedan to Kerman when it crashed 35 kilometres (22 mi) southeast of Kerman. The aircraft was carrying members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a special force that is independent from the Iranian Army, on an unknown mission.
Strong winds were reported in the region of the crash when the aircraft disappeared from the radar screens; approximately at the same time, villagers in the area described hearing a loud explosion. There were no survivors among the 275 occupants on board the aircraft. As of November 2014 the crash, the third of an Il-76 in Iran, remains the deadliest on Iranian soil and the worst crash of an Il-76; it is also the ninth-deadliest aviation accident of all time.
Cause
There was speculation that the accident was the result of a mid-air collision due to the high number of fatalities (the Il-76 normally carries fewer than 200 passengers). A terrorist organization called the Abu-Bakr Brigades also claimed responsibility for the crash.