Iranian MPs are angry that a new flight licence has been issued for Antonov airplanes before the investigation into the crash of Iran Flight 140 has concluded.
Iranian MP Alinemat Chahardovali said on Saturday March 14 that such a licence is a betrayal of the rights and lives of the Iranian people, adding that the licence is not a guarantee of the airplane’s security standards.
Chahardovali stressed that Parliament has not yet received the report on the last crash of the Antonov 140, and issuing a licence after so many crashes is unacceptable.
Last August, President Hassan Rohani issued an order banning the use of Antonov airplanes. Now, with the approach of the new year and an expected rise in air travel, these airplanes have once again been licensed to carry out domestic flights.
The last crash of an Antonov plane occurred last summer when Flight 140 from Tehran to Tabas went down near Mehrabad Airport in Tehran.
The Antonov planes are Ukrainian planes that began production in Isfahan in 1996 under an agreement with Ukraine.
A number of Iranian airlines currently use these airplanes for domestic flights. There have been four Antonov crashes since they entered the Iranian domestic air fleet, with the first one happening during the very first test flight.
