Kish Air Flight 7170

Kish Air Flight 7170 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kish Island in Iran to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, operated by Iranian airline Kish Air. On February 10, 2004, the aircraft serving the route, a Fokker 50, lost control and crashed onto terrain while on approach to Sharjah International Airport. A total of 43 out of 46 people on board were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest air disaster involving the Fokker 50.

The Emirati General Civil Aviation Authority concluded that the accident was mainly caused by pilot error. The captain of the flight suddenly asked the first officer to conduct the approach. This took the unprepared first officer by surprise, causing him to be nervous and eventually led to the aircraft being high on approach. Realizing this, the captain took over the control and decided to pull the thrust until it reached the ground range to quickly decrease their altitude. However, the captain accidentally caused the thrust to enter the reverse range, deploying the reverser in mid-air and ultimately caused the aircraft to crash.

Flight 7170 crashed in a similar manner with Luxair Flight 9642, another accident involving the Fokker F50 which had crashed just two years prior in Luxembourg. The crash of Flight 9642 had resulted in the mandatory recommendation for every Fokker F50 operators to send their aircraft back to the manufacturer for modification. The striking resemblances between both disasters caused authorities to urge non-compliant operators to immediately transport their Fokker F50 for the updated design.