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Iranian regime death-trap jet was allowed to fly despite history of crashes

NCRI – A ‘death-trap’ Iranian IrAn-140 passenger jet has a history of crashes in the past 12 years – this time killing 48 people and leaving three others seriously injured.

The latest tragedy happened on August 10 reveals that the Iranian regime’s authorities were well aware that the plane built based on Ukraine’s Antonov An-140 had lacked basic safety and security standards and was not fit for the air.

The first fatal crash occurred during a test flight of the IrAn-140 in 2002, when it flew into a mountain in Iran while attempting to take a Ukrainian delegation – including some of the An-140’s designers – to Istafan.

Last year, a similar plane crashed near Isfahan, killing all of its crew, but the accident received no media coverage as it was n not carrying any passengers.

The plane is built by a company affiliated to the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Defense. The Central Office of the Iran Airplane Production Industries Company (HESA) is located near Isfahan under the company direction of Mohammad Ali Sirati.

All of the regime’s missile, nuclear and military activities are centred in the Ministry of Defense, and the ministry’s main personnel are members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Four years ago, experts carried out a round of inspections and banned the use of these planes due to their low standards.

According to sources in the regime’s Aviation Organization, the engines of these planes have failed five times in the past two years while carrying passengers.

Two years ago a group of flight standards inspectors described the IrAn-140 as ‘dangerous’ and said that if its malfunctions were not corrected, its flight licenses should be cancelled.

A Majlis (parliament) member named as Khosravi revealed at the time: “From the very beginning of the construction of these planes there were many doubts and concerns about its engines.”

The state-run ‘Asr-e Iran’ daily wrote on August 9: “After none of the airliner companies came forward to buy this plane, in 2010 the Defense Ministry established an airliner company and used its own production directly in that company to carry passengers.”

Mehrdad Lahuti, a member of a commission in Majlis dealing with construction issues, said: “This IrAn-140 plane should not have been licensed to fly. The first of these planes crashed in its test flight in Isfahan. Also the members of this commission who inspected the manufacturing stages of this plane had expressed concerns in this regard on two occasions.”