2009 Iranian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 accident
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Ilyushin Il-76MD Adnan 2 and Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force HESA Saeqeh · Disputed
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 7 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Aircraft 1 · Ilyushin Il-76MD Adnan 2
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-76
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 5-8208
- Onboard fatalities
- 7
- Occupants
- 7
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- None · no survivors
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft 2 · HESA Saeqeh
- Aircraft type
- Hesa SAEQEH
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 3-7167
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Not stated
- Survivors
- 2
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 2
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 2009 Iranian Air Force Il-76MD Adnan 2 accident occurred on 22 September 2009, when an Ilyushin Il-76 crashed during a flyby near the city of Tehran. Sources conflict on the cause of the loss, with some stating that there was a mid-air collision with an Iranian Air Force Northrop F-5E Tiger II or a HESA Saeqeh, and others stating that the rotodome detached from the aircraft, striking and removing the tailplane while the aircraft was manoeuvring for an emergency landing following an engine fire. The crash resulted in the deaths of all seven people on board the plane and the destruction of Iran's only functional airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft.
Accident
A military parade was held in Tehran on 22 September 2009 to mark the anniversary of the start of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and was a send-off for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was to give a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 23 September. A flyby by the Iranian Air Force was part of the parade involving the AWACS-equipped Ilyushin-76MD as well as Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs and HESA Saeqeh aircraft.
Sources vary on the cause of the accident. Some state that a fire developed in one of the engines, and that the radome detached when the aircraft was attempting to make an emergency landing on runway 29L at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. The detached radar dome struck the tail fin, removing it and causing loss of control which led to the aircraft crashing. Other sources state that the Il-76MD and one of the escorts collided in mid-air over the site of the tomb of former Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeni.
The Ilyushin subsequently crashed in flames 15 km northwest of Varamin, killing all seven crew members on board. Some reports state that no mayday call was made, indicating a sudden event while other reports indicate that there was an emergency call from the aircraft with the pilot reporting an engine fire and calling for an emergency landing.
A video of the crash appeared on YouTube on 3 June 2011 uploaded by user Pooya Afaghi, showing the stricken IL-76MD with its rear fuselage missing, spiraling down out of control, and then impacting the ground. The appearance of the video was reported in the Huffington Post.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2009 Iranian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 accident” (revision 1372869613, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2009 Iranian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 accident
- Revision
- 1372869613 · 2026-09-02 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4614055
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2009 Iranian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 accident" (page 24445944, revision 1372869613)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.