August 20, 2009 - 20:46 AMT
Iranian Commission indicated reasons for Tehran-Yerevan jet crush
Caspian Airlines company's Tu-154 jet was crushed because of engine hitch, Iranian commission reports. According to Nelly Cherchinyan, press secretary of Civil Aviation General Department, the jet underwent a maintenance check-up in Minvody airport a day before the crush, and no malfunction problems were discovered. «While inquest results now confirm that engine hitched during the flight,» RIA Novosti quotes Cherchinyan as saying.

Hypothesis that crush might have been caused by refuelling proved untrue. Tu-154 was filled with 22 tons of fuel. Flight to Yerevan and back was to take 14 tons of fuel. The remaining amount was envisaged for additional use.

Let's note that on July 5, a Caspian Airlines company's Tupelov jet crushed during Tehran-Yerevan flight. The liner fell down in an area lying at a distance of 200 km. from Iranian capital. There were 168 people on board, with 15 being crew members. None of them survived. Relatives of crush victims have already started receiving insurance payments in the amount of USD 54 thousand.