Last January, one landed at Mashhad during fog, coming down too hard, tearing off the undercarriage and bursting into flames.
On July 15, 2009, a TU-154 headed from Tehran to Armenia caught fire at high altitude and nose dived into the earth near Qazvin.
On February 12, 2002, a TU-154 flew into the side of a mountain while trying to land at Khorramabad.
On February 8, 1993, another TU-154 collided with a Sukhoi fighter jet.
Three of those four appear to involve pilot error. The big question mark surrounds the 2009 Qazvin nose dive. In December, Nakhjavani said Iran had completed its investigation of that crash and sent its report to the Tupolev company and the Russian civil aviation organization for comment. He complained that neither had given Iran any response.
This week, he said, “This is one of the reasons Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization has decided to remove Tupolevs from the country’s aviation fleet.” The other reasons he cited were “recent air incidents” and the expiration of air worthiness certificates for the TU-154s. Those certificates are issued by his office.
He was also quoted as saying Tupolevs are not adequately equipped for safe flying. The TU-154s have been used in Iran for 20 years, according to PressTV.
Nakhjavani has not said to what Iran attributed the 2009 nose dive crash.
It isn’t clear what impact the removal of the Tupolev will have on scheduled flights. Officials said there are 17 TU-154s being flown by Taban, Kish Air, Caspian and Iran Air Tour.
It was announced in August that Iran was buying 13 Boeings and six Airbuses for its fleet, which 19 planes could replace the 17 Tupolevs. Iran cannot buy Boeings or Airbuses new because of US sanctions, but it can buy used versions of the aircraft.
Within Iran, there is a broad public dislike and distrust of aircraft from the states of the former Soviet Union.
Wikipedia comments: “Since 1968 there have been 39 fatal incidents involving the Tu-154, most of which were caused by factors unrelated to the aircraft. This number is not considered unusual given its specifications, number in operation, years in service, and heavy use in demanding conditions.”
The plane is now banned from most Western airports, but that is because of noisy engines, not safety considerations.
