RV7908

RV7908/15JUL09 IKA/OIIE-EVN/UDYZ PAX153 Crew15 Tu-154M EP-CPG

A Caspian Airlines Tupolev TU-154M, registration EP-CPG performing flight RV-7908 from Tehran Imam Khomeini (Iran) to Yerevan (Armenia) with 153 passengers and 15 crew, crashed about 16 minutes after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport in the vicinity of the village of Janat-Abad (Qazvin province of Iran) about 120km (65nm) westnorthwest of Tehran. The airplane broke up and burst into flames at 11:49 local time (07:19Z). All occupants perished.

The pilot had reported the left hand engine #1 (engine type D-30KU-154-II) on fire before the airplane went down.

Iran's disaster management center within the health ministry confirmed, that all occupants have been killed in the crash.

Local police and fire services report, that the airplane left an impact crater of about 10 meters depth, all debris spread over a radius of about 150-200 meters (500-650 feet).

According to the airline the airplane was built in 1987 (confirming initial reports suggesting EP-CPG).

Aviation Sources within Iran report, that the airplane had been cleared to climb to FL320. The radar showed, that after reaching the peak at FL288 the airplane began to lose altitude and came down to 14700 feet within 55 seconds (average sink rate 15400 feet per minute) while deviating to the left of the assigned flight path.

Source from The Aviation Herald