Brig. Ahmadi Moghaddam: Plane crash not terrorist attack

Iran rejects the hypothesis of terrorist involvement in the plane crash near Zahedan.
On the sidelines of the funeral procession of the seven victims of the plane crash around Zahedan in southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, Brig. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam maintained that a team has been dispatched to implore into the cause of the crash and as of yet he cannot comment on the exact cause of the accident.

“We currently have five active aircrafts of this type in the Law Enforcement Forces,” he said; “this type of aircraft is secure and has a low accident risk, although the age of the plane might have proved problematic in this case.”

He pointed to the aircraft crew and said, “the pilot of this flight was a colonel and had the necessary experience in steering this type of plane. If the accident had happened during daylight, the plane could have flown without a motor and the pilot could have managed to land it.”

In regard to some foreign websites reports on terrorist involvement in the crash, Ahmadi Moghaddam clarified, “the remains of the plane have been discovered at the crash site. The plane had been flying at 19,000 feet height while shoulder-launched missiles can only target aircrafts at the maximum of 12,000 feet. Thus, this hypothesis regarding terrorist involvement is rejected.”

“There has not occurred an explosion in the fuselage and the motors had been turned off,” he continued, “the plane struck the ground at the speed of 100-200kmph which equals that of an automobile.”

The propeller plane belonging to Law Enforcement Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran carrying police officials crashed Saturday night in Nosratabad, Sistan and Baluchistan province.