Passengers 157 Fatalities 0 Date 24 January 2010 Injuries (nonfatal) 47 Survivor 170 (all) | Crew 13 Survivors 170 (all) Number of deaths 0 Operator Taban Air Passenger count 157 | |
 | ||
Summary Possibly engine failure or pilot error Site Mashhad International Airport, Iran Similar Aviastar‑TU Flight 1906, Agni Air Flight 101, Pamir Airways Flight 112, Sun Way Flight 4412, Merpati Nusantara Airlines Fl | ||
Taban Air Flight 6437 was a scheduled domestic flight that crashed on landing at Mashhad, Iran on 24 January 2010. All 170 people escaped from the burning aircraft without loss of life. Most of the passengers were pilgrims returning from visiting holy sites in Iraq.
Contents
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-154M. It was registered RA-85787. The aircraft first flew in 1993.
Accident
Flight 6437 was being operated by Kolavia on behalf of Taban Air. It had originated at Abadan and had diverted to Isfahan due to poor visibility at Mashhad. Once visibility improved, the aircraft took off again, but the visibility deteriorated before Flight 6437 could land. The flight was holding near Mashhad International Airport when a passenger fell seriously ill. The crew were told and they declared a medical emergency. They decided to land at Mashhad on an ILS approach for runway 31R despite the low visibility. During the landing the tail struck the ground causing the aircraft to veer off the runway, the nose gear to collapse, the right wing to strike the ground, and a fire. All passengers and crew survived the accident with 47 receiving injuries. The METAR in force at the time of the accident was OIMM 240350Z 00000KT 0200 FG VV002 02/02 Q1021 A3017.
Investigation
The Iranian Civil Aviation Authority opened an investigation into the accident. On 26 January 2010, it was reported that Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee had joined the investigation.