Pilot error blamed for July crash of Aria Air Flight 1525 in Iran

August 10, 2009 Investigators with Iran's Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) have concluded that pilot error was to blame for last month's crash of Aria Air Flight 1525. The Ilyushin Il-62 ran off the runway at Mashad and struck a wall while landing, killing 17 people and wounding 30.

The CAO Flight Standards Department's deputy director Faramarz Sarvi stated that the aircraft had been traveling at excessive speed. Sarvi added that lack of crew cooperation was also suspected, but denied reports that the pilots had been arguing when the accident occurred. However, the Aviation Herald claims that the cockpit voice recorder showed they had been.

"Because of the high-speed, the pilot apparently lost control of the plane upon landing, causing it to veer off the runway," said Sarvi. He further stated that the crew did not answer warnings from the tower to slow down and that there was no equipment failure. Both aircraft and crew had passed safety checks prior to the plane taking off.

Sarvi stated that around 4,200 hours of investigations were conducted.