Iran plane crash: All 66 people on board feared dead

Sixty-six people are feared to have been killed in a passenger plane crash in the Zargos mountains in Iran. 

The ATR-72 commerical plane was travelling from Tehran to the southern city of Yasuj in Isfahan province when it came down in the Zagros mountains.

The twin-engine turboprop, used for short-distance regional flying, is said to have collided with Mount Dena, which is 14,435 feet tall.  

Aseman Airlines spokesman Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai said there had been 60 passengers on board flight Flight EP3704, including a child, and six crew members.

'After searching the area, we learned that unfortunately ... our dear passengers had lost their lives,' he said. 

'This plane had 60 passengers, 59 adults and one child, as well as a pilot, a co-pilot, two flight attendants and two air marshals on board.'

The plane reportedly vanished from radar 20 minutes after taking off at 0433 GMT before crashing some 780 kilometers (485 miles) south of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Bad weather has hampered rescue efforts. Emergency teams have had to travel to the crash site by land rather than using a helicopter.

Witnesses told local media the plane looked like it was trying to make an emergency landing before it crashed. 

Dense fog meant a rescue helicopter was unable to get to the crash site immediately.

The Iranian Red Crescent deployed a search and rescue team to the site near the city of Semirom in Isfahan province.

Ageing fleet

Iran has suffered several aviation accidents in recent years and has an ageing aircraft fleet.
The country has struggled to obtain spare parts to maintain its planes in the face of international sanctions imposed to curb its nuclear programme.
Those sanctions have been mostly lifted under a 2015 deal between Iran and the US alongside several other powers.
Aseman, signed a contract with Boeing last year to buy 30 of its latest medium-range 737s.
The crashed plane, a French-Italian-made ATR 72-500, was 25 years old, Iran's civil aviation organisation said.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, expressed "deep sympathy" for relatives of those on board, saying the accident "saddened the hearts".

Aseman Airlines is Iran's third-largest airline by fleet size, with 29 aircraft. 

The plane that crashed on Sunday had been built in 1993, Aseman Airlines CEO Ali Abedzadeh told state TV.

The airline has suffered other major crashes with fatalities.

In October 1994, a twin-propeller Fokker F-28 1000 commuter plane flown by the airline crashed near Natanz, 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Tehran, also killing 66 people on board.

An Aseman Airlines chartered flight in August 2008, flown by an Itek Air Boeing 737, crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing 74 people.

Authorities said they would be investigating the latest crash. 

Friends and family of those onboard the flight were seen crying and comforting each other after arriving at the airport

How tragic and sad!