A police helicopter takes off from the site of a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane crash near Janatabad, 150 km (93 miles) west of Tehran July 15, 2009. The Caspian Airlines aircraft crashed in Iran on Wednesday on its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and ploughing into farmland killing all 168 people on board just 16 minutes after take-off.
Iran is prohibited from buying aircraft or spare parts from Boeing. It also can't buy European-made Airbus aircraft, because about 40 percent of their parts are manufactured in the U.S. So Iran is forced to buy aging Russian aircraft with questionable safety records. (This is perhaps why Aeroflot, the largest airline in Russia, flies mostly Airbus and Boeing planes?)
The result is an Iranian airline industry with a horrific safety record -- at least 60 fatal accidents since the 1979 revolution. The U.S. airline industry, which flies far more routes every year, has had about 40 during that time period, according to my unofficial count.
It is impossible to justify economic sanctions that prevent Iranian airlines from buying needed spare parts for their planes. They put millions of Iranians at risk of a deadly plane crash; they do nothing to pressure the Iranian government.
Iran's transport minister made this argument, prophetically, just a few months ago; the Iranian government raised similar complaints after a deadly crash in 2002.
Friday, July 17, 2009
DTN News: Blaming The U.S. For The Iranian Plane Crash
DTN News: Blaming The U.S. For The Iranian Plane Crash
*Source: DTN News / The Majlis By Gregg Carlstrom (Click here for link)
(NSI News Source Info) TEHRAN, Iran - July 17, 2009: One more thought on (July 15) today's tragic plane crash in Iran which left 168 people dead.
The proximate cause of the crash was probably poor aircraft maintenance, though we won't be sure until Iran's transport ministry finishes an investigation. But I think you can argue that the ultimate cause of the crash is U.S. economic sanctions. A police helicopter takes off from the site of a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane crash near Janatabad, 150 km (93 miles) west of Tehran July 15, 2009. The Caspian Airlines aircraft crashed in Iran on Wednesday on its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and ploughing into farmland killing all 168 people on board just 16 minutes after take-off.
Iran is prohibited from buying aircraft or spare parts from Boeing. It also can't buy European-made Airbus aircraft, because about 40 percent of their parts are manufactured in the U.S. So Iran is forced to buy aging Russian aircraft with questionable safety records. (This is perhaps why Aeroflot, the largest airline in Russia, flies mostly Airbus and Boeing planes?)
The result is an Iranian airline industry with a horrific safety record -- at least 60 fatal accidents since the 1979 revolution. The U.S. airline industry, which flies far more routes every year, has had about 40 during that time period, according to my unofficial count.
It is impossible to justify economic sanctions that prevent Iranian airlines from buying needed spare parts for their planes. They put millions of Iranians at risk of a deadly plane crash; they do nothing to pressure the Iranian government.
Iran's transport minister made this argument, prophetically, just a few months ago; the Iranian government raised similar complaints after a deadly crash in 2002.
A police helicopter takes off from the site of a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger plane crash near Janatabad, 150 km (93 miles) west of Tehran July 15, 2009. The Caspian Airlines aircraft crashed in Iran on Wednesday on its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and ploughing into farmland killing all 168 people on board just 16 minutes after take-off.
Iran is prohibited from buying aircraft or spare parts from Boeing. It also can't buy European-made Airbus aircraft, because about 40 percent of their parts are manufactured in the U.S. So Iran is forced to buy aging Russian aircraft with questionable safety records. (This is perhaps why Aeroflot, the largest airline in Russia, flies mostly Airbus and Boeing planes?)
The result is an Iranian airline industry with a horrific safety record -- at least 60 fatal accidents since the 1979 revolution. The U.S. airline industry, which flies far more routes every year, has had about 40 during that time period, according to my unofficial count.
It is impossible to justify economic sanctions that prevent Iranian airlines from buying needed spare parts for their planes. They put millions of Iranians at risk of a deadly plane crash; they do nothing to pressure the Iranian government.
Iran's transport minister made this argument, prophetically, just a few months ago; the Iranian government raised similar complaints after a deadly crash in 2002.
they just had a coup. a few bad parts from another country for civilian airplanes is low priority.
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