 EP-CPG, the aircraft involved, photographed in November 2008 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 July 2009 |
| Summary | Uncontained engine failure leading to loss of control |
| Site | Jannatabad, Qazvin, Iran 36°8′33″N 49°59′39″E / 36.14250°N 49.99417°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-154M |
| Operator | Caspian Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | IV7908 |
| ICAO flight No. | CPN7908 |
| Call sign | CASPIAN 7908 |
| Registration | EP-CPG |
| Flight origin | Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran |
| Destination | Zvartnots International Airport, Yerevan, Armenia |
| Occupants | 168 |
| Passengers | 153 |
| Crew | 15 |
| Fatalities | 168 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 was a scheduled commercial flight from Tehran, Iran, to Yerevan, Armenia, that crashed near the village of Jannatabad, outside the city of Qazvin in north-western Iran, on 15 July 2009.[1] All 153 passengers and 15 crew members on board died.[2][3]
The crash was the fourth deadliest aviation incident in Iran behind Iran Air Flight 655 (1988), the Iran Ilyushin Il-76 crash (2003), and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (2020). It was also the second-deadliest aviation incident in 2009 behind Air France Flight 447.[4]
The subsequent crash investigation found that the incident had been caused by fatigue failure and consequent disintegration of a rotor disc in the left hand engine (engine #1). In addition to the failure of that engine, fragments of the disc severed two of the three hydraulic control systems, and damaged fuel lines for the centre engine (engine #2). Fuel leaking from these damaged lines ignited, causing a large fire which then destroyed components that controlled the elevators and rudder, resulting in the pilots losing control of the aircraft.
- ^ "Plane crashes northwest Tehran". Iran News Association. Archived from the original on 20 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- ^ "Many dead in Iranian air crash". BBC News Online. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- ^ "168 reportedly killed in Iran plane crash". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev Tu-154M EP-CPG Qazvin". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2021.