IRAN TRAINING PLANE CRASHES, KILLING TWO – RADIO

Reuters
Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:41pm IST

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A training plane crashed west of the Iranian capital
Tehran on Saturday, killing two people on board, state radio reported.

"A training plane crashed in Karaj at 8 a.m. (03:30 GMT) and the two
people on board were killed," the radio said, adding the cause of
the crash was not yet clear.

Iran suffers from a poor air safety record, with a string of crashes
in the past few decades — many involving Russian-made planes.

On July 15, a Russian-built Tupolev aircraft crashed in Iran on
its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and ploughing into
farmland killing all 168 people on board. That accident, in which six
Armenians and two Georgians were killed, was the worst plane crash
in Iran in six years.

Another passenger plane crashed in the northeastern city of Mashhad
on July 25, killing 16 people, including 13 crew members.

The passenger plane, an Ilyushin Il-62 from Kazakhstan leased by
Iran’s Aria Aviation Company, veered from the runway and hit a wall
while landing at Mashhad’s Hasheminejad Airport.

Iranian media said 30 people were injured in the accident.

U.S. sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft
or spares from the West, forcing it to supplement its ageing fleet
of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from the former Soviet Union.