Iran's Islamic Revolution's Guard Corps (IRGC) has attributed Monday's fatal crash of a Dassault Falcon Jet 20E business jet in the northwest of the country to bad weather and engine failure.
The Islamic Republic News Agency says the Falcon (believed to be registration 15-2235) was carrying commanders of the IRGC when it crashed at Aidinlou, 12km (8 miles) west of the Azeri city of Orumiyeh, on Monday morning. The aircraft was heading from Tehran, 900km to the southeast, when it crashed in foggy weather after at least one of its General Electric CF700-2D-2 engines failed, the agency says.
According to Flight International's sister data company AvSoft, the aircraft was delivered to Iran in November 1975.
The news agency says the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing on a road but that bad weather prevented him making a successful full stop, leading to the crash. Weather conditions were reported as around 4degC (27degF) with a light covering of snow.
The government will launch an investigation into the causes behind the crash immediately, says the state news agency.
The agency confirms that the IRGC's commander of ground forces Brig Gen Ahmad Kazemi along with the commander of the 27th Rassoulollah army division were among the 11 passengers killed in the crash.
Source: Flight International