Iranian An-140 Crashes in Tehran, Killing 40

An Antonov An-140 operated by Iranian carrier Taban Air crashed on Sunday almost immediately following takeoff from Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, killing 40 of the 48 people on board. The airplane, built in Iran under license by HESA and branded the Iran-140, took off at 9:45 a.m. local time on its way to Tabas in the northeastern part of the country, according to Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani ordered all An-140 operators in Iran to ground the turboprops pending a full investigation. IRNA also confirmed that search crews have found the airplane’s flight recorders, adding that the head of Iran Civil Aviation Organization, Alireza Jahangirian, said Monday that authorities had tasked 11 committees with investigating the crash.