IRIPA - Islamic Republic of Iran Police Aviation

The crew was completing a training program and departed Rasht-Sardar Jangal Airport on a flight to Tehran. While flying in limited visibility, the airplane went out of control and crashed in an open field located in Kenarsar, some 15 km east of Rasht Airport. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all three occupants were killed.

The twin engine aircraft was flying to Zahedan with a crew of three (two pilots and a flight attendant) and four passengers, among them General Mahmoud Sadeqi, a senior police officer who was travelling to Zahedan to investigate the circumstances of a recent attack that killed four police officers. While approaching Zahedan by night, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located in the Sabzpushan Heights, north of the airport. The wreckage was found the following morning. All seven occupants were killed. A day later, Iranian Authorities said the accident was caused by technical flaws, darkness and the pilot’s unfamiliarity with the region.