1993 Tehran mid-air collision
Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154M and Iranian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 · Mid-air collision caused by ATC error and pilot error on the Su-24
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
- 133 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 133
- 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
- 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 · Tupolev Tu-154M
- Flight
- B9962
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-154
- 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
- EP-ITD
- Operator
- Iran Airtour
- Onboard fatalities
- 131
- Occupants
- 131
- 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 Mehrabad International Airport (THR)To Mashhad International Airport (MHD)
Aircraft 2 · Sukhoi Su-24
- Aircraft type
- Sukhoi SU-24
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Iranian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Occupants
- 2
- 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 Mehrabad International Airport (THR)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Operating environment
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 8 February 1993, Iran Airtour Flight 962, a Tupolev Tu-154, collided in mid-air with an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft near the Iranian capital of Tehran, killing all 133 people aboard both aircraft. It was the deadliest aviation accident in 1993.
Collision
Flight 962 was climbing at the direction of runway 29R, and at the same time the five Su-24s were descending to land on runway 29L. All five of them were separated one mile apart. One of the Su-24s, piloted by a crew of two pilots, turned left four miles west of the tower but did not have enough visibility as it was performing a go around. At this point, Flight 962 was nearing the Sukhoi fighter. Flight 962 and the Su-24 did not obtain visual sight of each other. At about 14:16 IRST, the two aircraft collided in mid-air; the rear engine and the tail of the Tupolev aircraft were torn off, and the flight crew lost control of the aircraft. Both aircraft crashed into an army depot at the town of Shahr-e Qods, near Tehransar, about 9.4 mi from Mehrabad. All 131 people aboard the Iran Airtour airliner and both military pilots died.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Investigators determined that the pilot of Flight 962 correctly followed ATC instructions. Iran's Civil Aviation Authority concluded that the causes of the collision were: errors made by the military pilots of the Sukhoi Su-24 and air traffic controller error. The primary causes were:
The air traffic controller's decision allowed Flight 962 to climb while the Sukhoi Su-24s were descending.
The controller failed to inform Flight 962 about the Sukhoi Su-24s entering their airspace.
Failure to notify the military pilots about take-off of a Tupolev at the same time as the Sukhoi turns left.
The controller did not express any concerns about the 1000 ft distance between the two aircraft.
The Sukhoi pilots failed to maintain the altitude as requested by the ATC, which caused the collision of the two aircraft.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1993 Tehran mid-air collision” (revision 1371961548, 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: 1993 Tehran mid-air collision
- Revision
- 1371961548 · 2026-08-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q15080583
- 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 "1993 Tehran mid-air collision" (page 39077952, revision 1371961548)
- 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.