A total of 46 people, most of them Ukrainian and Russian aerospace experts, were killed Monday when an Antonov plane travelling from Turkey to Iran crashed near the central Iranian city of Isfahan, state television reported.
A spokesman for Iran's civil aviation authority was quoted as saying the plane crashed at around 7:30 pm local time (1600 GMT), adding that emergency services were at the crash site. The plane went down about 70 kilometers from Ardestan, south of Tehran.
Most of the passengers were Ukrainian and Russian aerospace industry scientists and executives traveling to Iran to witness the maiden flight of a joint Ukrainian-Iranian-built plane, TV reports said.
Iranian television said the scientists were to attend a test flight Wednesday of the Iran-140 passenger plane being built in Isfahan. The plane is based on the Ukrainian-designed Antonov-140. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
