The crash of C-130 near Stepanakert - the destruction by the Armenian forces [1] of a military transport aircraft C-130 of the Iranian air force with families of Iranian diplomats on board over Nagorno-Karabakh , near the city of Stepanakert , on March 17, 1994 .
| Accident near Stepanakert | |
|---|---|
 Aircraft C-130 Hercules, similar to the crashed | |
| General information | |
| date | March 17, 1994 |
| Character | shot down by the Osa air defense system |
| Cause | shelling by Armenian armed forces |
| A place |  Ballydzha , near Stepanakert , Azerbaijan |
| Dead | 32 (all) |
| Aircraft | |
| Model | Lockheed C-130 Hercules |
| Affiliation |  Iranian Air Force |
| Departure point |  Moscow , Russia |
| Destination | Mehrabad , Tehran , Iran |
| Board number | 5-8521 |
| Date of issue | 1971 (first flight) |
| Passengers | nineteen |
| Crew | 13 |
| Dead | 32 |
| Survivors | |
Content
Holocaust
On board the aircraft were families of employees of the Iranian embassy in Moscow , heading to Tehran for the celebration of Novruz [1] [2] [3] [4] .
Before deviating from the course and entering the airspace over Nagorno-Karabakh , the crew reported mechanical malfunctions. After some time, the aircraft crashed.
At a press conference, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Zhirair Libaridyan stated that the plane was supposed to proceed to Iran via Russia , Georgia and Armenia . However, he deviated from the course about 100 km to the east and, having left the Georgian airspace, was not over Armenia, but over the war zone in Nagorno-Karabakh [5] .
The Iranian embassy in Moscow said that as a result of the crash, all 19 passengers, including 9 children, and a crew of 13 people were killed [5] . The remains of the deceased Iranian citizens were taken to Armenia and sent to Tehran from the Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport . The ceremony was attended by Vice President of Armenia Gagik Harutyunyan and Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Vigen Chitechyan .
To establish the circumstances of the tragedy, Iran created a special commission of the Air Force. The head of the commission, Abdat Aminian, rejected the version of the vice-president of Armenia, Gagik Harutyunyan, that the plane lost control and crashed into the ground due to a malfunction of the flight control system. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that " for unknown reasons, after deviation from the course, it exploded in the air [6] ."
Aminian stated that the plane was shot down by two missiles fired by Armenian armed forces, and noted that the Armenian side did not take responsibility for the incident, but admitted that its troops mistook the Iranian aircraft for Azerbaijan and did not even try to establish contact with the crew for elucidation of its affiliation [7] .
In an official statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on the results of the work of the Air Force Commission, the blame for the destruction of a military transport aircraft was assigned to the Armenian forces. The statement noted that " Iran reserves the right to file a claim and receive compensation for the victims of the disaster and calls on the Armenian leadership to identify and punish those responsible for the destruction of the aircraft [8] [9] ."
The Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan provided the Iranian side with the interception of radio communications made by the Azerbaijani intelligence on the day of the disaster. One of the interception phrases was: “ We just shot down an Azerbaijani military plane [10] .” Azerbaijani intelligence believes that the aircraft was shot down by the Osa homing missile. Some Russian experts suggested that the Iranian aircraft deviated from the course for an intelligence mission [11] , but the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected these assumptions [12] .
Consequences
During a meeting with Vice-President of Armenia Gagik Harutyunyan in Tehran, Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani demanded the punishment of those who participated in the destruction of the aircraft [13] . Before leaving Tehran, Harutyunyan acknowledged the fact of the destruction of the Iranian aircraft “by mistake”, but did not indicate that they made this mistake [14] .
According to Human Rights Watch : “ According to the laws of war, the armed formations of the Karabakh Armenians were obliged to ascertain the aircraft’s affiliation before launching a strike. If they did not use all available means to identify the aircraft, then this is a serious violation of humanitarian law [15] . ”
See also
- The crash of Mi-8 near the village of Karakend on November 20, 1991
- The crash of Mi-8 near Shushi on January 28, 1992
- Accident A300 over the Persian Gulf
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Human Rights Watch / Helsinki, Christopher Panico, Jemera Rone. Azerbaijan: Seven years of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Human Rights Watch, 1994. ISBN 1564321428 , 9781564321428, p. 108
- ↑ The Independent , 19 March 1994. Sad new year.
- ↑ The Independent , March 29, 1994. Armenians 'shot down' plane.
- ↑ Kommersant , No. 58 (526) (04/01/1994) Sisyphean labor in the mountains of the Caucasus - this time collective
- ↑ 1 2 Los Angeles Times , March 19, 1994. 32 Die as Iranian Plane Strays, Crashes in Karabakh War Zone
- ↑ ITAR-TASS , March 22, 1994. Remains of Iranians killed in Thursday crash sent to Iran.
- ↑ ITAR-TASS , March 31, 1994. Iranian C-130 plane was downed by two missiles
- ↑ Associated Press , March 28, 1994. Iran Says Armenian Forces Downed Airplane Killing 32.
- ↑ BBC , March 30, 1994. Foreign Ministry says Armenian troops shot down Iranian passenger aircraft.
- ↑ Independent Newspaper , March 26, 1994. “We Just Downed Azeri Military Plane.” Azeri Intelligence Holds Stepanakert Radioed Such A Message To Yerevan On Day Of Iranian C-130 Disaster
- ↑ The Christian Science Monitor , March 22, 1994. Wendy Sloane. Crashed Iranian jet may have been spying .
- ↑ ITAR-TASS , March 22, 1994. Iran rejects its crashed C-130 was spying.
- ↑ Associated Press , May 04, 1994. Iran Calls On Armenia To Expedite Plane Crash Investigation.
- ↑ ITAR-TASS , May 5, 1994. Iranian plane was shot down over Karabakh “by mistake”
- ↑ Human Rights Watch / Helsinki, Christopher Panico, Jemera Rone. Azerbaijan: Seven years of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Human Rights Watch, 1994. ISBN 1564321428 , 9781564321428, p. 108