Iran reports tech defects in Tupolev-154 engine

Iran says it has reported to Russia technical defects it discovered in the motor engine of a Tupolev-154 plane that crashed in central Iran in July, killing all 168 passengers, Press TV reported.

Reza Nakhjavani, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Monday that Iran has yet to receive the Russian manufactuer's report on the issue.

Based on the latest information concerning the plane crash, the official said, "technical defects have been discovered in the engine of the plane and the matter has been reported to the Russian manufacturer, but we are yet to receive the results of the manufacturer's study."

The official said the defects came to light during the study of the Qazvin plane crash, adding that the defects had not been detected in Tupolevs before.

Nakhjavani said the decision to abolish or keep the planes hinges upon the Russian manufacturer's confirmation of the report.

"If the Russian manufacturer approves our experts' views [on the issue], we will then decide to either continue or stop Tupolev flights in the country accordingly."

All the 168 people aboard the Tupolev Tu-154 en route to Armenia were killed about 16 minutes after the airliner took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport near Tehran in July 2009.

Iran's Minister of Roads and Transportation said in January that Iranian airlines will no longer be allowed to buy cheap or old airplanes.

"[Iranian] airlines are allowed to buy planes produced after 1995, but in the near future they will be allowed to purchase only planes that are produced after 2000," Hamid Behbahani said.

He added that Iran has 193 passenger planes, of which 25 have been purchased over the past ten months.