Victim of Iran airplane crash sent chilling phone message just before fated flight
Before the doomed Aseman Airlines flight crashed in Iran a male passenger appeared to send a message to his girlfriend asking God to protect the flight
A VICTIM of the Iranian air tragedy appeared to send what would turn out to be a chilling message to his girlfriend just before the plane crashed into mountains, leaving no survivors.
A photo of the doomed plane’s wing appeared to have been taken by a young man called Salman Azari with the caption underneath saying: “May God protect us to arrive safe".
The Aseman Airlines flight never reached its destination of Yassuj from the capital Tehran, crashing into a mountainous region near Semirom, close to the city of Isfahan.
All passengers and crew, totalling 66 people, were killed.
The Aseman Airlines ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed near its destination of the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 485 miles, south of the Iranian capital, Tehran, the country’s state media has confirmed.
Aseman Airlines spokesman Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai told state TV that all on Flight No. 3704 were killed.
The 24-year-old plane carried 60 passengers, including one child, and six crew members.
State TV said that due to foggy condition, rescue helicopters couldn't reach the crash site in the Zagros Mountains.
Mr Tabatabai said the plane crashed into Mount Dena, which is about 1,440 feet, tall.
Under decades of international sanctions, Iran's commercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air accidents occurring regularly in recent years.
Following the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, Iran signed deals with both Airbus and Boeing to buy scores of passenger planes.
The plane appeared to be attempting an emergency landing on farmland when it crashed, according to the Mehr news agency.
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Some local residents reportedly heard the crash, but state TV said nobody had yet reached the scene.
Fog is preventing helicopters from getting there and Iran's Red Crescent has deployed workers on foot.
Aseman is a semi-private airline that specialises in flights to remote airfields in Iran and also flies to some international destinations.
The carrier, Iran's third largest, has 29 planes, including six ATR-72 aircraft, according to plane-tracking website FlightRadar24.
The ATR-72 that crashed Sunday had been built in 1993, Aseman Airlines chief executive Ali Abedzadeh told state TV.
The plane took off from Tehran at 0433 GMT and gave its last signal at 0555 GMT, when the flight was at 16,975 feet and was descending, FlightRadar 24 said.
Questions about the suitability of the ATR-72 planes flying over the mountainous region have already been raised by author and defence analyst Babak Taghvaee.
He said on Twitter: "“ATR-72 is unsuitable for mountainous Iran” and posted footage of a flight showing the plane appearing to be just a few feet above the mountain tops.
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