Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 a passenger plane carrying 40 passengers crashed in a residential area north-west of Tehran near Mehrabad Airport. Plane crash occurred at 9:18am local time.
Mehrabad Airport is near central Tehran and is Iran’s main domestic hub and by far the busiest of the country’s airports, serving routes to all Iranian cities.
Most international flights take off from Teheran Imam Khomeini International Airport, which is located further west of the Iranian capital.
The plane was headed to the eastern city of Tabas, the IRNA and Fars news agencies said, when it crashed around 9.18 am (0448 GMT), after leaving Mehrabad airport. It was a turboprop aircraft An-140.
It crashec into the Azadi neighbourhood, just west of central Teheran, close to a residential area for military families.
Iran’s deputy transport minister Ahmad Majidi said the Antonov An-140 turboprop plane was run by Sepahan Airlines
Due to the sanctions imposed on it by the West, that prohibit international companies to supply the aircraft and spare parts to the Islamic Republic, Iran has developed its own passenger aircraft. In 2000, Iran bought a license for the production of the An-140 from Ukraine, on the basis of which in 2003 it has created the first Iranian passenger plane – Iran-140, that can carry for up to 52 passengers.
There are no reports of any survivors, all 40 people on board are presumed to have been killed in the crash.
The plane crashed into trees. It’s not expected anyone on the ground got hurt
