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List being compiled

 

Chronological Listing of Iranian
Losses & Ejections

 

 
[draft section contents]
Iranian F-5 Freedom Fighter
Iranian F-4 Phantom II
Iranian F-14 Tomcat

Iranian Rotary Winged Helicopter Losses

While compiling the listing for the losses and ejections incurred by Iranian Air Force fixed wing aircraft I received requests to add details of Iranian helicopter crew losses.
Presented in this section and linked pages are details that have been found and obtained from many sources. This section does not claim to be complete, nor error free and addition information is welcomed

Civil Aviation Losses

Early Persian & Iranian Air Force History
[Miscellaneous Air Force Information]
[found during research that may be of interest]
     The Iran - Iraq War 1980 - 1988

The Iran - Iraq War - Iranian Air Force POWS
1980 - 1988


Anti-Aircraft Defences


Targets in the Iran - Iraq Conflict 1980 - 1988

all are works in progress and do not claim to be definitive

 

PLEASE NOTE
Some PHANTOM, F-5 & F-14  LOSSES and Ejections have been removed from this page while they are amended - PLEASE follow links to RELEVANT web page for progress

ALL PAGES RELATING TO IRAN & IRAQ SHOULD BE SEEN AS CONTINUING RESEARCH - DETAILS ARE BEING ADDED AND AMENDED AS SOON AS THEY ARE FOUND OR RECEIVED


I AM ALWAYS PLEASED TO ACCEPT COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL HELP ENHANCE THE ACCURACY OF ANY OF THE INFORMATION AND I AM ALWAYS PLEASED TO BE SENT  PHOTOGRAPHS AND OTHER DOCUMENTATION RELATING TO THE SUBJECT.

THERE ARE SOME PERSIAN & ARABIC LANGUAGE WEB SITES THAT I AM UNABLE TO ACCESS [due to my inability to speak or read Farsi & Arabic].
CONTACTS AND LINKS TO THESE WOULD BE APPRECIATED

To clarify information concerning Iranian Air Force & Military Losses the list also contains known civil accidents
 
Air Force Chronology - Basic Listing - Under Construction
1920 The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) formed
25th February 1925 IIAF becomes operational with its first fully trained pilots
1931 8 aircraft lost in crashes
23rd August  1941 - 1946 Britain and Russia invade neutral Iran. Air bases taken over and aircraft destroyed
   

 

The Following Iranian pilots were known to have died in aircraft crashes. Can anyone provide further details about them -
Date ?? Aircraft Type ?/  Location ?? Reason for crash ??

1st. Lt Mohammad Alaghband
1st. Lt Mohsen Memarian
Masih Motahary
Mehdi Vahdati
1st. Lt Esmaeel Memari (Killed in Aircraft Crash)
Lt. Iraj Mokhaberi ( Killed in Air Craft Crash ) DATE ??
Capt. Fariboorz Paywar
1st Lt. Masoud Teymouri
1st Lt. Esmaeel Ghayour
Gen. Mahammad Khatami 1975 died - aircraft accident ???

 

 
Date Air Force A'cft Unit / Serial based crashed crew & photos seat
October / November 1954
date needed		   Piper      Crashed in the Elburz Mountains, 42 miles from Teheran Prince Ali Reza and two others (the pilot and passenger [a peasant with tuberculosis]) killed in crash  
11th December -
BUT WHICH YEAR
1958, or 1959 or 1960 ??		   DC-3     crashed on mountains of north east of Tehran Major Amir Vali-Fard killed
Other crew names unknown at present		    
 

Jamshid Alyha

Many Iranian pilots received their training in the USA. Jamshid Alyha trained on F-86 Sabres at Laredo AFB in US. He went on to become an instructor training many IIAF and IRIAF pilots. He was well qualified to do this having experience on the T-33, T38, F-86, F-84, F-5,and F-4. The F-4E Phantom being his favourite aircraft to fly

1958
IIAF		 F-84G Thunderjet   Golden Crown
Aerobatic Display Team		 FURTHER DETAILS APPRECIATED Capt. Siamak Jahanbini    
1963
IIAF		 F-86 Sabre   Golden Crown
Aerobatic Display Team		 Crashed during practice flight 1st Lt. Esmaeel Memari    
1963
IIAF		 F-86 Sabre   Golden Crown
Aerobatic Display Team		 1st Lt. Ghasem Farajwan    
1963
DATE
????		   T-33     Flying from Tehran to Shahrokhi airbase. Crashed near Shahrokhi Airbase   pic  
General Motahari
[CO Shahrokhi airbase]		 Maj Fariboorz Paywar
{Golden Crown}
[Fariborz Paivar]		  
May 1963
IIAF		 Aerocommander 560     shot down by Soviet MiG-17F Fresco flown by  Steapnov, of the 156th IAP IIAF crew members and a Colonel of the US Special Forces - killed    
20 November 1963 civilian L-26B     shot down by Soviet pilot V.P. Pavlovskii      
August 1964
IIAF		 Aerocommander 560     shot down by Soviet MiG-17F Fresco flown by   Pechenkin, of the 156th IAP      
??/??/1966

IIAF		 F-86
Sabre		   Capt. Nosrat Abdoulahifard ejected safely NAA
Golden Crown
Aerobatic Display Team
1st FIS / 1st FIW  Mehrabad AFB, Iran Bird Strike prior to a show
18th April 1967
IIAF		 Hercules C-130E 5-107

c/n 4118

 5th Air Transport Squadron destroyed by lightning strike      
Thursday 26th December 1968
IIAF		 F-86 Sabre   Hamadan Collided over a base near Hamadan, in west Iran Pilot killed    
Thursday 26th December 1968
IIAF		 F-86 Sabre   Hamadan Pilot killed    
1969
IIAF		 F-86 Sabre   Golden Crown
Aerobatic Display Team		   1st Lt. Masoud Teymouri    
7th April 1969
IIAF		 Hercules C-130E 5-112

c/n 4154

 5th Air Transport Squadron  Simulating two engines out, crashed at Shiraz, Iran      
4th July 1974
IIAF		 Hercules C-130E 5-8507
c/n 4295		   crashed at Shiraz, Iran      
1st June 1974
 


                                                                                                                                                                                     "mcb archive collection"

A postal first day cover commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Imperial Iranian Air Force
The featured aircraft being the De Havilland DH-4 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II

A Russian built R-1 is shown on this 10R Stamp

Russia produced the R-1 (De Havilland DH-4) and the R-5 (De Havilland DH-9) and in the early 1920s agreed to sell aircraft to Iran. The first of these arrived in 1923

A McDonnell Douglas F-4E is shown on this 10R Stamp

Iran ordered the F-4 from the USA in 1967. The first aircraft, F-4D's were delivered on 8th September 1968

Comprehensive details of the Imperial Iranian Air Force can be found at
www.iiaf.net
 
9th May 1976
IIAF		 Boeing 747-131 #5-283 Teheran, Iran On flight from McGuire AFB, USA to Teheran.
Lightning strike. Wing Failure. Crashed near Madrid Spain.
The official cause of accident (lightning) became under scrutiny after investigation into crash of TWA flight 800.  Some believe "an explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), similar to flight 800 was the cause of the crash.		 All 17 on board killed,
10 crew,
7 passengers [including 4 Americans]		    
21st December 1976
IIAF		 Hercules C-130H 5-8536
c/n 4463		   crashed during approach in bad weather to Shiraz, Iran      
19th September 1978
IIAF		 Hercules C-130H 5-8532
c/n 4457		   crashed during landing, 3-engine go-around, Doshan Tappah Air Base, Iran      
1st April 1979

Iran proclaimed an Islamic Republic following fall of Shah.
Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) become Islamic Republic Iranian Air Force (IRAAF)
19th June 1979
confirm ??
IIAF		 Hercules C-130E 5-8520
c/n 4402		   Lost control in flight, crashed, Shiraz, Iran      
18th (??) September 1980
IRIAF		      
Shot down in southern Iraq during the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War.
 Hossein Lashgari,
POW -released from prison in April 1998		    
Tuesday 29th or

Wednesday 30th September 1981

Sources differ
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130H c/n 4594   Official version states aircraft developed a ''technical fault,'' . Some sources report the aircraft exploded in mid-air crashed at a firing range at Kahrizak, 20 kilometres south of Tehran as it was bringing the military personnel back from the frontline city of Ahvaz in south western Khuzistan province the Iraqi war front. Believed by some to have been a pre-emptive strike against high ranking officers who may have been contemplating a coup against the new Islamic Regime.      
     

80 on board killed including Minister of Defence and high-ranking officers

General  Valiollah Fallahi

Acting Chief of Staff of the joint command

Gen. Javad Fakouri

Air Force Commader  

Gen. Kolah Douz,

Acting Commander of the Revolutionary Guards

Commander Jahanara

 

Brig. Gen. Seyed Musa Namju

Defence Minister

   
         
 General   Valiollah Fallahi Gen. Javad Fakouri Gen. Kolah Douz, Acting Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Commander Jahanara Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Seyed Musa Namju    
22nd September 1980
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130     Not Confirmed      
10th February 1986

19 Bahman mah 1365(19.11.1365)
IRIAF		 Jet Falcon     crashed   120 km from 5th AFB Omidiyyeh while flying from Tehran to Omidiyyeh AFB Lt. Asadollah Farhamnad (passenger) killed
Other IRIAF personnel killed in crash		    
3rd November 1986
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130     crashed into a mountain while trying to land at Zahedan airport 103 on board killed    
   
                                                                                                                                                                                                      photo via Bahram
                                                                                                                                                                                      
15th April 1988
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130H            
8th February 1993
Iran Air		 Airliner Tu-154M EP-ITD   Civil aircraft  on a nonscheduled flight from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport to Khoram Dareh crashed into a military plane  that was on approach to the same airport near Tehran 132 on board killed    

IRIAF		 Sukhoi Su-24          
killed killed  
17th March 1994
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130H 5-8521
c/n 4432		  

IRIAF Hercules C-130H 5-8521 that crashed on 17th March 1994
 
Crashed in the disputed Caucasus enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
Aircraft was carrying Iranian women and children home for the Muslim New Year Reports suggest it was shot down on flight from Moscow to Tehran		 19 passengers and 13 crew killed    
   
12th October 1994
Aseman Airline		 Fokker F-28     Crashed  near Natanz, 150 miles (240 km) south of Tehran on  flight from Isfahan to Tehran 66 aboard killed    
Thursday night
6th January 1995
IRIAF		 Lockheed C-140 Jetstar   Babai Air Force Base near Isfahan, 500 miles south of Teheran. Crashed shortly after takeoff late
 killing 11 other officers, including four other generals		      
     
     
     
     
     
 

Brig. Gen. Mansour Satari

Commander of the Iranian Air Force,

Major General Ali Reza Yassini

The air force chief of staff,

General Mostafa Ardestani

Deputy commander for operations

Ahmad Shojaei,

Head of the engineering department,

Hassan Razzaqi

Head of the controller department,

Colonel

 

Colonel

 

Major ??

 

Lieutenant ???

 

Lieutenant ???

 

Lieutenant ???

 
     
Brig. Gen. Mansour Satari Major General Ali Reza Yassini General Mostafa Ardestani Ahmad Shojaei, Hassan Razzaqi Colonel ???
           
Colonel ??? Major ?? Lieutenant ??? Lieutenant ??? Lieutenant ???  
19 Mar. 1995
IRIAF		 F-7     crashed  in Tehran Maj. Javad Erfaniyan
killed		    
13th or 14th  March 1997
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130     Crashed near Mashad in a mountainous region in north eastern Iran 86 on board killed    
2nd February 2000
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130     Crashed on take-off for training flight from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport. Control lost and collided with Iranian Airbus A300 8 crew killed    
29th July 2000
IRIAF		 Su-24MK            
     
17th May 2001   Yak-40     crashed in northern Iran 29 people, including Iran's Transport Minister Rahman Dadman and other deputy ministers killed    
Tuesday 10th July 2001
 		 Mirage F1     Plane was taking part in operations against
drug-runners. crashed near the holy city of Mashad , in the Kouye Amir Al-Momeneen region of
northeastern Iran close to the border with Afghanistan at around
11:00 am (0630 GMT)

source: IRNA
news agency

 "The pilot failed to open his parachute when he had to eject due to
yet unspecified reasons,"		   Martin-Baker
co-pilot had
survived the crash with injuries.		   Martin-Baker
12th February 2002
Iran Air
[Iran Air Tours]		 Tupolev
Tu-154M		 EP-MBS   Aircraft hit high ground. Crashed  after taking off from Tehran en route to Khorramabad near the western city of Khorramabad in Sefid Kouh  mountains in west of Iran
Weather - rain, snow and dense fog at the time of the crash		 119 people on board killed    
23rd December 2002   Antonov 140     Cmmuter plane carrying aerospace experts crashes in central Iran 46 killed    
2003

Produced in 2003 this First Day Cover shows the four main fighter aircraft used by the Islamic Republic of Iran - Air Force. Of note is the Russian  MiG-29 (see below postcard issued at the same time as the fdc) . Following the 1979 Revolution the support of  American and Western technology was limited. By the early 1990s the Iranians were purchasing aircraft from both Russia and China


                                                                                                                                                  "mcb archive collection"
 
                 
19th February 2003
IRGC		 Ilyushin-76
Military transport aircraft 		    crashed in south eastern Iran 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard all killed    
25th June 2003
13:00h
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130   Tehran-Mehrabad Airport Technnical problems caused two engine to catch fire. Crashed near Rudshour, Iran 7 crew killed    
10th February 2004 Kish Air Iranian airliner     Crashed near Sharjah airport in UAE 44 people die, 2 survivors    
20th April 2005 Saha Airline Services Boeing 707      skidded off a Tehran runway and caught fire 1 child dies and several others injured    
 
 
6th December 2005
IRIAF		 Hercules C-130E 5-8519
c/n 4399		   Crashed into a ten storey building in a residential area of Tehran, 84 on board killed
[68 of these were press & media personell]
10 crew killed		    
Monday
9th January 2006
morning

                                     "mcb archive collection"

 
                                                                                                               Iranian TV
 The Falcon jet crashed near Ourmieh in north western Iran
The loss of this Islamic Republican Guard aircraft was an alleged act of sabotage according to some reports from Iran

IRGC		 Falcon jet 15-22?? In Iran the loss of the "Martyrs" on the aircraft, was recognised by the issue of Commemorative Stamps

All 11 people aboard were confirmed dead [see below]

Pilot: General Abbas Karvandi

IRGC Air Force, Commander of the Qadr air base, responsible for defending the air space over Tehran


 

Co-Pilot: General Ahmad Elhaminejad

head of the IRGC air force college

General Ahmed Kazemi

Commander IRGC's ground forces

Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Yazdani

IRGC artillery commander

Gen. Shahramoradi Hanif Montazer-Qaem

IRGC Ground Forces Intellligence chief

Brigadier General Saeed Mohtadi

Commander of IRGC Rassoulollah 27th Army Division

Hamid Azinpour

Aide to General Kazemi

Mohsen Asadi

 

Brigadier General Saeed Suleimani

Commander of operations for IRGC ground forces

Gen Safdar Reshadi

Deputy Commander of Ground Forces

Colonel Morteza Basiri

  
General Ahmed Kazemi Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Yazdani Gen. Shahramoradi Hanif Montazer-Qaem Brigadier General Saeed Mohtadi Hamid Azinpour Brigadier General Saeed Suleimani Gen Safdar Reshadi
       
Pilot: General Abbas Karvandi Co-Pilot: General Ahmad Elhaminejad Mohsen Asadi Colonel Morteza Basiri

pictures of other Martyrs needed
Saturday
19th August 2006
IRIAF		 training aircraft     Taking part in military exercises. Caught fire and crashed after trying to make an emergency landing on a highway outside of Tehran pilot ejected    
1st September 2006   Tupolov 154     A burst tyre is suspected the cause of the accident. Passenger plane skidded off the runway in Mashhad and burst into flames. 29 killed    
27th November 2006
IRIAF		 Antonov-74     crashed shortly after take-off,
Tehran		 36 killed    
Monday 23rd July 2007
IRIAF		 Not yet given   14th air force base, Mashhad Near Shandiz district in
northeastern province of Khorassan Razavi		 Pilot ejected    
                 
Monday 14th April 2008
19:00
[14:30gmt]
IRIAF		 Su-24MK   Mehrabad airport crashed on landing  on a training mission and burst into flames     K-36
Pilot ejected Co-Pilot ejected K-36
   Source: Fars News Agency
Sunday 6th July 2008
IRIAF		 Guizhou
FT-7M		   Omidiyeh Air Base , Dezful, southwest Khouzestan province around Omidieh Technical failure during landing near air base southwest Iran     Jali
Killed Killed Jali
15th July 2009
Iran		 Tupolev
Airliner		   Caspian Airlines 11 minutes after take off caught fire in mid-air and plunged into farmland while en route to Armenia. Crashed near northwestern city of Qazvin all 168 people on board
killed		  

 

  
24th July 2009
Iran		 Ilyushin Il-62
Airliner		   Aria Airlines Travelling from Tehran to north-eastern city of Mashhad with 153 passengers on board. Caught fire and overshot the runway in the city of Mashhad and crashed into a perimeter wall 17 killed
[also reported as 16 people, including 13 crew members, were killed and around 30 others on board were injured]		    
3rd August 2009
Iran		 Boeing 707
Airliner		   Iran's army airlines Saha made an emergency landing at Ahvaz airport due to technical failure      
Monday 10th August 2009
Iran		 training plane   Took off from Payam airport crashed due to a technical problem in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran 2 killed    
Saturday 15th August 2009
Iran		 Bell 205 helicopter   Iranian Police crashed  in a mountainous region in the southern province of Kerman 3 killed, three injured    
Sunday 16th August 2009
Iran		 Helicopter
Bell ???		   IRIAF*
 		 Crashed in Shahriar county near a village called Zarnan, about 45 kilometers west Tehran. Training exercise.
4 killed		    
Further Details when available
 *[originally reported as Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC)]
   
 
 
 

The following photos, along with many others were sent for inclusion on the Iranian Air Force history pages.


 

No accurate record of Iranian Rotary Winged Helicopter Losses has yet been available - If you can add any information to help with this task please contact me.
 


   
 

 It is known that many more Iranian Pilots and crew ejected than are listed - many ejectees became POWs held by Iraq. Not all survived.  During  purges following 1979 many former IIAF pilots were executed.  Full accounting for operational and combat losses that involved ejections during the Iran-Iraq War is still not complete and it is likely to be many years before this happens.  Information on IRIAF ejections is very limited with few details emerging about aircraft losses.

                             ANY INFORMATION TO ADD TO or AMEND THIS LISTING WILL BE APPRECIATED

Suggested Web Sites and Links

  
www.iiaf.net
global security organisation
wikipedia
scramble.nl
pak(istan) defense forum
www.irandefence.net
ACIG
 www.parvazidigar.persianblog.ir

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sincere thanks to:

Members of the IIAF.net and the Iranian Pilots Association, especially for permission to use photographs from private collections
Iranian media, Payvand's Iran News
Arash K.
Bahram
Narbeh S.
Tom Cooper for his invaluable help.
ACIG
Members of the Pakistan Defence Info Forum
David Allport - for permission to refer to his monthly "Attrition" listings in AFM over the years
Scramble.nl
Lockheed Hercules Production List, 1954-2001, by Lars Olausson
Private Correspondence
Those contributors who have requested anonymity
Former members of the IIAF & IRIAF

SOURCES

  

Various issues of:
FLIGHT & FLIGHT International
The Aeroplane
Air International
The New York Times
Time Magazine
Life Magazine
National Geographic
Scramble Magazine
Air Forces Monthly Magazine
[more to add - including issue dates & numbers

The written record of Major General Abbas Dowran  made public by his  wife, Mahnaz, twenty years after his loss, translated from the original Farsi.
 The memoirs of Capt. Mansour Kazemiyan translated from the original Farsi.