Caspian Airlines Flight 7908
Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 was a scheduled commercial flight from Tehran, Iran, to Yerevan, Armenia, that crashed near the village of Jannatabad, outside the city of Qazvin in north-western Iran, on 15 July 2009. All 153 passengers and 15 crew on board died.
EP-CPG, the aircraft involved, photographed in November 2008 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 July 2009 |
| Summary | Uncontained engine failure leading to loss of control |
| Site | Jannatabad, Qazvin, Iran 36°8′33″N 49°59′38″E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-154M |
| Operator | Caspian Airlines |
| Registration | EP-CPG |
| Flight origin | Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran, Iran |
| Destination | Zvartnots International Airport, Yerevan, Armenia |
| Occupants | 168 |
| Passengers | 153 |
| Crew | 15 |
| Fatalities | 168 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The crash was the fourth deadliest aviation incident in Iran behind Iran Air Flight 655 (1988), the Iran Ilyushin Il-76 crash (2003), and Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (2020). It was also the second-deadliest aviation incident in 2009 behind Air France Flight 447.
The subsequent crash investigation found that the incident had been caused by fatigue failure and consequent disintegration of a rotor disc in the left hand engine (engine #1). In addition to the failure of that engine, fragments of the disc severed two of the three hydraulic control systems, and damaged fuel lines for the centre engine (engine #2). Fuel leaking from these damaged lines ignited, causing a large fire which then destroyed components that controlled the elevators and rudder, resulting in the pilots losing control of the aircraft.