Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895

EX-009 seen at Domodedovo International Airport on 20 August 2008; four days prior to the crash
Accident summary
Date 24 August 2008
Summary Controlled flight into terrain[1]
Site Manas International Airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
43°3′28″N 74°28′43″E / 43.05778°N 74.47861°ECoordinates: 43°3′28″N 74°28′43″E / 43.05778°N 74.47861°E
Passengers 83[2]
Crew 7[2]
Injuries (non-fatal) 18[2]
Fatalities 68[2]
Survivors 22[2]
Aircraft type Boeing 737-219 Advanced
Operator Itek Air
Registration EX-009
Flight origin Manas International Airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Destination Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran

Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895, an Itek Air Boeing 737-219 Advanced (registered as EX-009), was a charter flight operated on behalf of Iran Aseman Airlines which crashed on 24 August 2008 (at 20:30 local time) near Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan while en route to Imam Khomeini International Airport,[3][4][5] Tehran, Iran. It crashed while returning to the airport of origin after experiencing technical difficulties.[2]

Reports state that members of the crew reported "technical issues" with the plane shortly after take off. Within 10 minutes the crew reported a severe loss of cabin pressure. When they attempted to make an emergency landing, the aircraft crashed approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the airport runway and burst into flames.[2] The United States Air Force sent ambulances and fire apparatus with firefighters and medical personnel from its base at the airport in response to a request for assistance.[6] The victims included ten members of a Bishkek high school sports team (AKA Kyrgyzstan National U18 Basketball Team).[7]

Casualties

There were 90 people on board (83 passengers and 7 crew) of whom 68 died. At least 22 are reported to have survived, including 2 crew members.[7] The victims included ten members of a Bishkek high school sports team (AKA Kyrgyzstan National U18 Basketball Team).[7]

Nationality Passengers Crew Total Survivors
Canada 2 0 2 1
Iran 52 1 53 10
Kazakhstan 3 0 3 0
Kyrgyzstan 24 6 30 11
China 1 0 1 0
Turkey 1 0 1 0
Total 83 7 90 22

Investigation

The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) attempted to retrieve data from the flight-data and cockpit voice-recorders, which were badly damaged in the fire which destroyed most of the aircraft. While disassembling the casing, both the mechanisms of the tape recorder and the tape media in the voice recorder were found in damaged condition, but the MAK attempted to read the data from the damaged media.

The MAK has drawn final conclusions.[1] The report claims that the forward left cabin door was not closed completely, and that the person who closed it was an engineer who was not listed among those (in the Cabin Attendant Manual) who were supposed to close the door. The report concludes that the aircraft originally lost cabin pressure due to this error, but that it was just a contributing factor to the crash. The plane could have landed with reduced pressure, but the pilot failed to maintain visual contact with the runway, failed to properly monitor altitude and ignored automated warnings about terrain proximity (TAWS).

It has been reported that both the captain and co-pilot have been sentenced to five years and five years and two months respectively in a penal colony for the crash.[8]

Aircraft

The crashed plane first flew on 16 June 1980 and was delivered on 1 July of the same year to Air New Zealand as ZK-NAS. In 1995, it was sold to Copa Airlines, and in 2003 was again sold to Phoenix Aviation. In 2005, Phoenix Aviation was rebranded as AVE.com, and in April 2006, it changed hands to Itek Air.[9]

Itek Air, along with all air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Kyrgyzstan, is included in a European Union list of banned airlines for safety concerns and is therefore not permitted to fly over the territory of the EU. In May 2008, EX-009 passed a full technical inspection.[10]

References

Wikinews has related news: Passenger plane traveling to Iran crashes in Kyrgyzstan, killing 68
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.mak.ru/russian/investigations/2008/boeing737/report_boeing-737-200_EX-009.pdf
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 24 August 2008.
  3. ↑ تعداد مسافران ايراني هواپيماي سانحه ديده قرقيزي 52 نفر اعلام شد (in Persian). IRNA. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  4. ↑ شهروندان ایران در سانحه هوایی قرقیزستان (in Persian). BBC Persian. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  5. ↑ اخبار سوانح هوانوردی (in Persian). asemansafety.ir. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  6. ↑ Namatbayeva, Tolkun (25 August 2008). "At least 68 dead in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 737 air crash". Agence France-Presse via Herald Sun. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Saralayeva, Leila (25 August 2008). "68 die, 22 survive airliner crash in Kyrgyzstan". AP via Google News. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  8. ↑ http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/12/28/336638/pilots-reportedly-imprisoned-for-itek-737-crash.html
  9. ↑ "EX-009 Itek Air Boeing 737-219(A) - cn 22088 / ln 676 - Planespotters.net". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  10. ↑ На борту упавшего в Киргизии "Боинга" находился 51 иностранец (in Russian). Lenta.Ru. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.