Iran Air Flight 291
Iran Air Flight 291 was a flight from Mashad Airport to Tehran-Mehrabad Airport that crashed on 21 January 1980 during its approach to Tehran-Mehrabad runway 29 in foggy and snowy weather conditions, killing all 128 people on board. At the time, Iran Air Flight 291 was the deadliest aircraft disaster in Iranian history. Aircraft The aircraft involved was Boeing 727-86 with registration EP-IRD (factory no. 19817, serial no. 537) was built in 1968 and made its first flight on 17 February. The aircraft was powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B turbofan engines. Accident On the day of the accident, Iranian air traffic controllers went on strike, which led to hundreds of domestic flights being cancelled. Then at 16:00 the strike was interrupted, and flights resumed. At 17:40, Flight 291 departed from Mashad Airport bound for Tehran-Mehrabad Airport in Iran. There were 8 crew members and 120 passengers on board (initial reports stated that there were 8 crew members and 116 passengers). At 18:52 local time, the controller at Mehrabad airport in Tehran gave the crew a direct approach to the runway 29. Then at about 19:05, the dispatcher instructed the crew to take a 360° heading to reach the