Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915

Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915

HESA IrAn-140 EP-GPB, similar to the plane involved in the accident
Crash
Date	10 August 2014 (2014-08-10)
Summary	Crash
Site	Near Azadi Stadium, Tehran Coordinates: 35°42′25.51″N 51°16′55.79″E / 35.7070861°N 51.2821639°E / 35.7070861; 51.2821639
Aircraft
Aircraft type	HESA IrAn-140
Operator	Sepahan Airlines
IATA flight No.	H85915
ICAO flight No.	SPN5915
Call sign	SEPAHAN 5915
Registration	EP-GPA
Flight origin	Mehrabad International Airport
Destination	Tabas Airport
Passengers	42
Crew	6
Fatalities	40
Injuries	8
Survivors	8

Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tehran to Tabas, Iran. On 10 August 2014, the HESA IrAn-140 aircraft serving the flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport, falling into a residential area near the Azadi Stadium.^[1][2] Of the 42 passengers and six crew on board, 40 people died.^[3]

Accident

The aircraft crashed into a residential block on Mina Glass Boulevard in western Tehran at 09:18 local time (04:48 UTC). The crash resulted in a fire erupting. IRNA, the Iranian state news agency, suggested that the aircraft suffered an engine failure.^[4]

Passengers and crew

There were 42 passengers and a crew of six. Of the 42 passengers, 36 were adults and six were children.^[5][3]

Cause

Fars News Agency quoted Mohammad Ilkhani, head of the Iran Airports Company as stating, "Failure of one of the plane's engines caused the plane to crash on the northern side of the Tehran-Karaj highway [Expressway]."^[6] Survivors reported that the number two engine had stopped during the takeoff.^[7] The pilots reportedly turned back four minutes after takeoff upon experiencing technical difficulties, but were unable to maintain altitude.^[8] The Antonov An-140 (upon which the HESA IrAn-140 is based) is a relatively recent development, with knock-down kits being delivered for domestic Iranian assembly as recently as 2007.^[9]

It was later determined that multiple factors had contributed to the accident. The aircraft was overloaded by 2666 kg, and was not properly trimmed for takeoff. The stabilizer should have been trimmed upwards between zero and six degrees, however the trim setting used during the accident flight was two degrees downwards. The rudder trim had not been centered. The flaps, which were supposed to be set at 15 degrees, were set only at ten degrees. During the takeoff roll, a malfunction in the electronic fuel delivery system caused a loss of power in the right engine. Two seconds later, although rotation speed had not yet been reached, the captain brought the plane into the air. Shortly afterwards, the crew noticed the engine failure but did not immediately attempt to feather the propeller. The plane began to lose airspeed, reaching a maximum height of 40 metres before descending and eventually entering an aerodynamic stall. By the time the crew feathered the propeller, 17 seconds after the initial failure, it was too late to recover the plane, which impacted a highway 1.6 km from the end of the runway.

The final investigation reports:^[3]

The accident investigation team determined that the main cause of this accident was combination of:
1. Electronic engine control (SAY-2000) failure simultaneously with engine No: 2 shutdown, just about 2 seconds before aircraft lift-off.
2. AFM Confusing performance chart resulted the pilots relying on performance calculation that, significantly over-estimate the aircraft MTOM.

References