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Iranians blame air crash on sanctions



 
 
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Old March 8th 18, 08:09 PM posted to alt.binaries.pictures.aviation
Byker
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Default Iranians blame air crash on sanctions

There are also rumors that their air fleet is kept active with black market
parts

"The airline blamed the crash on the weather, and Al Jazeera confirmed that
clouds had shrouded the mountain range. But this was only the latest in a
string of deadly plane incidents in Iran, which has not properly maintained
its air fleet as it has contended with international sanctions.

"The most recent fatal crash was in 2011, the AP reported, when 77 died on
board an Iran Air Boeing 727 caught in a snowstorm.

"Aseman Airlines, which is partially owned by the government, has had
crashes in 1994 and 2008. The airline has been banned in the European Union
over safety concerns, the AP wrote.

"The 1993 turboprop that went down Sunday had been grounded for seven years
until October, when it was put back into service, Al Jazeera reported. It
had malfunctioned at least once since its reactivation and made an emergency
landing for repairs last month. After Sunday's crash, Al Jazeera wrote,
Aseman Airlines deleted references on its social-media accounts to the
plane's years-long grounding, fueling suspicion of a coverup."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.e03037737847
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iran’s “Flying Coffins”

By Ali Delforoush

Last year in August I had the distinct “pleasure” of flying to Tehran on
board of an Iran Air Boeing 747. In light of the fact that Iran’s air
industry has had two plane crashes and two more in-flight emergencies in
just the past 3 weeks, it is important for Americans to understand that US
sanctions are partly the cause of these disasters—and that they can be
prevented.

I arranged my trip last year so I could attend my cousin’s wedding. As a
dual Iranian-Canadian citizen, I am able to travel to Iran with relative
ease, and despite common stereotypes, travel to Iran is perfectly safe—that
is, except if you are traveling with Iranian airlines.

Needless to say after the trip I swore never to fly with Iran Air again.

This is not because of stale peanuts or bad airplane food. On the contrary,
the “chelo kabab” was the only aspect of the flight that I actually enjoyed.
Rather, it was because of the horrifying conditions of the three decade old
planes that are standard for Iran’s air travel industry.

My aircraft was one of the first generation Boeing 747 series that the Shah
purchased from the United States before the 1979 revolution. Upon sitting,
the first thing I noticed was the ashtrays that were still functional in the
armrests of the chairs, even though smoking is not allowed on board.
Evidently, these aircrafts have not been upgraded for quite some time.

My seat was positioned just behind the wing, and as a beautiful London
sunset was bouncing off the engines I noticed the rust around the rivets
holding the wings on to the aircraft. “Great,” I thought; “that’s what I
wanted to see right before takeoff.”

As the passengers were boarding the plane a family of three took their seats
about five rows from where I was sitting. From what I could see, the son of
this family was suffering from Down’s syndrome and was in a wheelchair.
Unfortunately, this particular Boeing 747 was not wheelchair accessible.

Here the “helpful” flight attendants suggested to the parents that they
either take the next flight or “sit at the very front of the aisle and hold
on to the wheelchair to keep it from rolling.” The parents were irate, and
demanded to speak to the pilot, who also told them to take the other flight
and kindly leave his aircraft.

After the family exited, the flight finally took off. Only then did the
pilot announce over the intercom that, due to the plane’s instability, we
would be unable to fly at the normal cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
Instead, we would be flying lower and slower, prolonging my mid-air
nightmare by another two hours. One of the passengers sitting near me asked
the flight attendant the reason for the additional delay. Her answer was
less than reassuring: “The airframe and the wings of the aircraft can no
longer sustain themselves in high altitudes so we have to fly lower.”

My return trip wasn’t any better. On the way back to Canada, my flight was
delayed for three hours because the aftermarket hydraulic pipe (probably
purchased secondhand from the Chinese) of our Iran Air 747 was leaking fluid
and had to be repaired.

So can we chalk this up to an inferior “third world” aviation industry that
can’t afford basic maintenance? Or is it possible that our efforts to
squeeze the Iranian government have had the unintended effect of choking off
vital parts and services necessary for keeping passenger planes from falling
out of the sky?

As an indirect consequence of the US embargo on trade with Iran, Iranian
Airlines have been prohibited from updating their 30 year-old American
aircrafts. Additionally, U.S. sanctions even make it difficult for Iranian
airliners to get European spare parts for their fleet of Airbus planes,
hence the sanctions prevent upkeep of these aircrafts as well. This has
forced the Iranian civilian aircraft industry to rely on poor Russian
substitutes, many of which are from the Soviet era and for which it is
difficult to find spare parts.

Two particular aircraft commonly in use in Iran are the Tupolev Tu-154 also
known among Iranians as “flying coffins” and the Ilyushins 76, the
Soviet-era workhorses for Russian civil air fleets. The Tu-154 was produced
by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s until their production was halted due
to their poor flight history. After the Soviet collapse, government funding
sharply declined for manufacturers of aircraft and spare parts, hence other
countries such as Iran who are using their planes have had a harder time
obtaining parts and have had to resort to cannibalizing planes from their
own fleet.

The difficulty in obtaining spare parts and service has taken its toll on
the safety of Iran’s civilian fleet. The wear and tear from operating the
same planes for decades began to show in 2002 when two Tu-154 planes
crashed, killing 128. In 2003, a Russian-made Ilyushins 76 that was carrying
elite members of the revolutionary guard crashed and left 302 dead. In 2005
a US-made C-130 which was purchased before the 1979 revolution crashed and
caused the deaths of 115 passengers. And finally, in the past three weeks
alone, two Tu-154s crashed, a Boeing 707 had two engines catch fire
mid-flight, and another passenger plane’s landing gear malfunctioned after
takeoff. In all, at least 185 passengers have died in the past three weeks
alone.

A spokesperson for Boeing indicated to me that the poor safety record of
Iranian aircraft is a serious concern for them. “This is really a safety of
flight issue,” the spokeswoman said. “We care about the safe operation of
our fleet of aircrafts worldwide, regardless of the country.”

Current law prohibits the export to Iran of aircraft parts without a
specific license from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC), though obtaining a license is a daunting task. According to Boeing’s
spokesperson, the application process often takes place with a “presumption
of denial.”

There is a popular joke in Iran that says Iranian pilots always say their
prayers on the intercom before taking off. For years now, the safety of Iran’s
civilian planes and the lives of hundreds of their passengers have rested on
a wing and a prayer. How many more people will have to die before lawmakers
realize that our broad sanctions on Iran — which have little or no impact on
the government’s behavior — are unnecessarily killing innocent people? Can’t
we figure out a way to put pressure on the government but spare the men,
women, and children of Iran just trying to travel from one place to another?
I would like to think that we can, but until politicians in Washington take
a closer look at the unintended consequences of our Iran policy, it is the
people of Iran who will suffer the most.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-d..._b_252090.html

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