Iran Aseman Airlines
Iran Aseman AirlinesReuters

An Iranian carrier named Aseman Airlines on Sunday, February 18, said 66 people on board one of its passenger planes died after it crashed into the Zagros mountains in central Iran. However, reports later in the day said that the airline had withdrawn its earlier statement. 

  • Twitterati has expressed condolences for the deceased:
  • A section of the Twitter has also condemned the airlines for flying old aircraft.
  • The PR offcial of the airlines said that the plane had crashed into Mount Dena. Mt. Dena is a sub-range mountain within the Zagros Mountains, which is about 440-meters (1,440-feet) tall.
  • Aseman Airlines Public Relations (PR) director Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai told the media that all passengers, including  a child and the crew members on the flight died.
    "After searches in the area, unfortunately we were informed that the plane crashed. Unfortunately, all our dear ones lost their lives in this incident," said Tabatabai.
  • costa rican flight crash
    Smoke and fire seen at the site where a plane crashed in the mountainous area of Punta Islita, in the province of Guanacaste, in Costa Rica December 31, 2017, in the picture obtained from social media. [Representational image]Reuters

    Reports by the Iranian media have said the flight, identified as an Iran Aseman Flight 3704, was on its way from Tehran to the city of Yasuj in southwestern Iran when the crash took place.
    "The plane crashed near the town of Semirom," news agency ISNA quoted emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi as saying.

  • Semirom is the capital city of Semirom County in Isfahan Province of Iran.
    "An ATR aircraft of Aseman Airlines with 60 passengers and about six crew disappeared from radar this morning," Aladin Borujerdi, head of parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, told the semi-official ISNA news agency.
  • Borujerdi also added that residents claim that a crash had taken place in the mountains.
  • Meanwhile, Khaledi has told the news agencies that a helicopter has been sent to the area.
    "Given the fact that the area is mountainous, it is not possible to send ambulances," he added.