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No Judgment on Iranian Plane Crash Valid Before Investigation Completed - MP

Posted on: Sunday, 11 December 2005, 18:00 CST

Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA website

Tehran, 11 December: A lawmaker said here on Sunday [11 December] that any judgment on the C-130 plane crash will not be valid until the investigation of the case by a team of 29 experts and technicians is complete.

Rapporteur of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazem Jalali said on Sunday that the team will study the medical file of the pilot, the overhauling record of the plane, communications with the control tower before the crash, the parts remaining from the crashed plane after the incident, testimonies given by eyewitnesses and other factors in the case.

Talking to IRNA after meeting a group of officials, Jalali said the 29-member team comprising of flight experts, technicians, physicians, meteorologists, inspectors, the representative of the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces and inspectors from the Islamic Republic Army's aviation service and from the joint army staff.

Minister of defence Najjar, deputy head of the Islamic Republic Army's joint staff, commander of the Islamic Republic Army's aviation service and a group of air force officials attended the meeting with Jalali.

Jalali quoted defence minister as telling the meeting that the C- 130 plane had had no problem and was fully ready for the flight based on the standards defined for such planes.

He said the C-130 plane had been among safe planes in its kind, conducting the flight at 13:22 hours local time [0952 gmt] and calling for an emergency landing after seven minutes and 20 seconds after takeoff.

He further quoted the minister as saying that the plane had been allowed to return and land at Mehrabad airport after the takeoff.

He added that one of the four-engine plane's engines was said to have gone out of order but the problem cannot create an irregular condition in the plane and it can return and land at airport.

The lawmaker also rejected claims on behalf of the defence minister and army officials that the plane had been ordered to land only at Mehrabad Airport.

"In plane, the pilot is the commander and can land anywhere he deems necessary," said Jalali.

"Every thing had been normal until (the plane's) approach to the airport environment; but what happened three kilometres to the airport is not yet clear and from the viewpoint of participants in the meeting, the (29-member) team should comment," added the parliamentarian.

The plane had been overhauled in 2002 and the next overhaul was scheduled four years later, said Jalali, adding that still one and half years remained to the next overhauling.

The overhauling had taken 40 months and 10 days with 25,000 men/ hour working on the project, he added.

He quoted army officials and the defence minister as saying that the plane had conducted flights days before the incident, including more than five hours on December fifth, more than seven hours on December third and more than four hours on December second.

He also quoted officials as saying that the plane had also undergone technical examination and no problem had been observed in the process.

Jalali said a defence committee had been formed at Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission to investigate the incident.

He assured the bereaved families of the victims that the Majlis Commission will follow up the case.

Calling the incident as 'shocking' for the media corps, Jalali cautioned the media against certain individuals, who spread rumours in connection with the case to meet their wrong and non-defendable objectives.

He said the Majlis Commission is determined to follow up the case and will present the outcome of its reports on the crash disaster.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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