Iran Air crash - Death toll rises to 77

The death toll from yesterday's Iran Air Boeing 727 crash has risen to 77.

Roads and transportation minister Hamid Behbahani, spoke from the site of the accident on Iranian state television very early today and said that 72 of the 105 people on board were killed. The ministry’s deputy head of crisis management, Ahmad Majidi, later this morning put the death toll higher, saying that as many as 77 people died.

The Boeing 727 plane was en route from Tehran to the northern city of Urmia where weather data reports show the Urmia Airport had been experiencing heavy snow and poor visibility at the time.

The Minister told Iranian TV that the Boeing aircraft was unable to land due to “unsuitable weather and bad vision,” and that it missed an initial landing attempt and was attempting a go-around when it disappeared from the radar screens of the Urmia approach tower at about 7:45 p.m. local time.

The plane broke into pieces after the impact but did not explode, More than 20 of the dead have yet to be identified.

Iranian investigators have set up several working groups to study the crash of the 37-year old airframe, registered EP-IRP which was fitted with Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines.

Like all of the country’s American-built aircraft EP-IRP was purchased before Iran’s 1979 revolution, when the two countries cut off relations. Iranian airlines, including the flagship carrier, Iran Air, have struggled to keep those planes operating amid sanctions that restrict the purchase of new planes and spare parts from major European and American manufacturers. There is no immediate evidence that the restrictions played a direct role in the crash.