TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran’s aviation organization has temporarily banned flights of all ATR-72 aircraft after a deadly crash that killed 65, reports said on Friday.
The official IRNA news agency reported that Iran’s Aviation Organization said Aseman Airlines ATR72-200 and ATR72-500 flights will be banned until further notice.
The statement reads: "In order to make sure of the improvement of this type of aircraft’s safety, it is necessary to stop their flights temporarily.”
An Aseman Airlines twin-engine turboprop ATR-72 used for short-distance regional flying went down Sunday in foggy weather. All on board Flight EP3704 were killed, including 60 passengers and six crew members.
Under decades of U.S.-led sanctions, Iran’s commercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air accidents occurring regularly in recent years.
On Friday, heavy snow and hazardous mountain conditions forced rescue teams to suspend their search operation for the victims the tragic crash.
Rescue teams, backed by Army commandos, managed on Wednesday to transfer the first of the 32 bodies recovered from the site of the crash, around 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) up Mount Dena, to the ground.
However, Aziz Faily, an official at Kohkiloyeh and Boyerahmad Province, said Friday that rescue and search operations have been halted until Monday.
Currently, necessary coordination is being made with Iran’s Army, the Red Crescent and other relevant officials to resume rescue operations, he said.
Reports say heavy snow and blizzards have reduced visibility to less than two meters at the site of the crash.
Families of the victims of the flight have also taken DNA tests to identify the bodies, according to officials.
Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi said all efforts were directed towards finding the black box to find out what exactly caused the airliner to go down.
Helicopters managed to spot the plane’s debris three days later after weather conditions improved.