The cause of the crash was not immediately known. It was the first F-14 crash in Iran since June 2004, almost eight years ago; that plane crashed as the pilot was trying to land at the end of a training flight. A computer search by the Iran Times did not turn up any other reports of F-14 crashes in Iran since the end of the war with Iraq. Iran seems to have had very good luck with the F-14 despite its inability to buy any parts legitimately. Since only Iran and the US Navy ever flew the F-14, Iran has had to pay dearly for parts to be smuggled out of the United States. But while the Islamic Republic likes to blame aircraft crashes in Iran on the US refusal to sell it spare parts, it seems to have a superb safety record with the F-14. Furthermore, it does not lose US-made passenger jets at a faster rate than it loses European and Russian made passenger jets.
