Other Middle East and Africa Frequent Flyer Programs - 80 killed when Iranian jetliner catches fire

Breaking news

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian state TV reported 80 people were killed when their passenger plane caught fire as it was landing Friday in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

The fire began after a tire blew out as the aircraft was landing, television reported.

The flight, by Iran Airtour, which is affiliated to Iran's national air carrier, originated in Bandar Abbas, in the south of the country.

The Russian-made TU-154 was carrying 147 passengers. None of the crew members died in the fire, and other passengers were evacuated, state-TV reported.

Mashhad, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) northeast of Tehran, is visited by 12 million people annually on pilgrimage to its Shiite Islamic shrines.

State television did not say whether the fire had been extinguished, only that it was under control and that investigators were on the scene.

The question begs to be asked:
Do the Tupolevs have a problem (according to wikipedia, 7% of the Tu-154 planes built have been counted as hull losses, compared to 4.6% for Boeing 727), or do the airlines that bought tupolevs have a problem keeping up on their maintenance?

I would NOT fly in one fo them - would rather wait for the next boing, airbus, or take a train

myk :

There have been occasions in the past when two (or more) Boeing aircraft have been lost in one week. There have even been whole years where multiple Boeings have been lost while the Tupolevs flew on without problem. And do you know, I don't see the people of Russia going round saying "Proves there's a problem with them, never fly a Boeing".

The accident last week to the Tu154 was not a maintenance issue.

The only maintenance issue in Iran, where this current accident happened, is that many of the fleet of Boeings there are standing idle, out of service, because the US government has banned exports of aircraft spare parts there. Other Boeings are being kept going by sourcing parts on the grey market, while Tupolev are maintaining full support service. So I'll leave it to you to determine where the greatest difficulty lies in "keeping up on their maintenance".

The question begs to be asked:
Do the Tupolevs have a problem (according to wikipedia, 7% of the Tu-154 planes built have been counted as hull losses, compared to 4.6% for Boeing 727), or do the airlines that bought tupolevs have a problem keeping up on their maintenance?



I think the answer is the latter, but the problems are not confined to mtc issues. Crew training, regulatory oversight, navaids tend to be poorer in nations where TU154 are used extensively (mostly the forner USSR). Offhand, I don't know how many TU154 accidents are maintenance related, but I don't know of any inherent design problems. If any anything, the -154 is "over-designed" (sorta like the old "brick outhouse").