Tehran-Mehrabad

Flight IR123 was a scheduled international cargo flight from Kabul, Afghanistan to Tehran, Iran. The co-pilot was in the left-hand seat and pilot flying at the commencement of the takeoff run. The aircraft was cleared for takeoff on runway 29 at 13:13. When accelerating for takeoff the pilot-in-command noticed that the propeller of the no. 1 engine was overspeeding and surging as high as 3300 rpm. As the aircraft approached an indicated airspeed of about 80 kts the captain took command. He noticed that the aircraft was headed to the left away from the runway centreline towards three runway lights in a concrete footing at the left edge of the runway. To avoid a possible collision with these lights the captain applied elevator control and lifted the aircraft off the runway. The overspeeding propeller condition did not subside although he followed the procedure prescribed in the operations manual for corrective action. The flight path was about 30 to 45° to the left of the runway and in the general direction of the Kabul Airport terminal building so the captain attempted to turn the aircraft further to the left to avoid collision with the building. About 325 ft from the south edge of runway 29 the left wing contacted the ground and the aircraft crashed.

On a cargo flight from Beirut to Tehran, while cruising at an altitude between 13,000 and 15,000 feet by night, the four engine aircraft was attacked by the pilot of an unknown fighter. The engine number one was hit, causing a fire that spread to the nacelle and the wing. Shortly later, the engine number four was shut down and its propeller feathered due to a fuel exhaustion (the fuel tank was apparently empty). In such situation, the crew reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing near Rasht. The airplane came to rest in a field and was destroyed. All three crew members were uninjured. It is presumed the crew made a navigation error in flight, causing the aircraft to fly over the Soviet Union without authorization.

Crashed on takeoff at Mehrabad Airport for unknown reason. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and all three crew members were injured.

During the takeoff roll, the captain decided to abandon the takeoff procedure and started an emergency braking maneuver. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the twin engine aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest few dozen yards farther. All 12 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The reason why the crew decided to abandon the takeoff remains unknown.

The aircraft, engaged on a copilot's check in instrument flying and one engine flying, took off from Mehrabad Airport at 0909LT with a Captain acting as check pilot, four copilots under test and a flight engineer. Difficulties were met in feathering and unfeathering during the first flight and the aircraft returned to the apron for advice. The aircraft took off again at 1048 LT for further checks. At approximately 1129LT and at 6,700 feet the port propeller was feathered. A few minutes later the port propeller overspeeded when the Captain tried to unfeather it and, despite repeated efforts, the crew did not succeed in unfeathering or refeathering it and it continued to windmill at about 2100 RPM. Height could not be maintained and the aircraft crash landed in open country 1,500 meters short of Runway 11 at Mehrabad Airport. The aircraft was wrecked causing serious injuries to three occupants and minor injuries to the other three.

While descending to Tehran-Mehrabad Airport, the crew was informed by ATC that a landing was not possible due to low visibility caused by snow falls and was vectored to follow a holding pattern. After completing two circuits, the crew started a second approach when the four engine aircraft crashed about 10 km west of the airport. All 22 occupants were killed. The assumption of a loss of control caused by a fuel exhaustion is not ruled out.

While approaching Qom Airport in poor weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed few km from the airport. All eight occupants were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport, while climbing, the aircraft stalled and crashed. All nine occupants were killed, among them seven crew members who were positioning to Saudi Arabia to make a crew change on another aircraft.