Tehran – Bandar Abbas

On December 6, 2005 at 02:10 PM, Tehran – Bandar Abbas experienced a crash involving Lockheed C-130 Hercules, operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, with the event recorded near Tehran-Mehrabad Tehran City District.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a city crash site.

94 people were known to be on board, 106 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 112.8%.

Crew on board: 10, crew fatalities: 10, passengers on board: 84, passenger fatalities: 84, other fatalities: 12.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The four engine aircraft departed Tehran-Mehrabad Airport on a flight to Bandar Abbas, carrying 84 passengers and a crew of 10, among them several journalists from local newspapers and the Iranian National TV who were flying to Bandar Abbas to cover important military manoeuvres. Some eight minutes after takeoff, while climbing, the captain informed ATC about technical problems with the engine n°4 and elected to return to Tehran for an emergency landing. After being cleared to return, the crew started the descent when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a residential area located in the district of Yaft Abad, about 2 km south of runway 29L threshold. All 94 occupants were killed as well as 12 people leaving in a 9-floor building that was struck by the airplane. At the time of the accident, the visibility was reduced to 1,500 metres due to haze.

Aircraft reference details include registration 5-8519, MSN 4399, year of manufacture 1970.