Iran Aseman Airlines Dassault Falcon accident
Iran Aseman Airlines for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Dassault Falcon 20E · Controlled flight into water after spatial disorientation due to somatogravic illusion
From Kish Airport, Iran to Kish Airport, Iran
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
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- Airline
Dassault Falcon 20E
- Aircraft type
- Dassault Falcon 20
- 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-FIC
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Kish Airport, IranTo Kish Airport, Iran
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Physical
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
The Iran Aseman Airlines Dassault Falcon accident occurred on 3 March 2014 in the Persian Gulf near Kish Airport, when a Dassault Falcon 20E, which was conducting a calibration flight on behalf of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, was flown into the sea by the pilots after spatial disorientation. All four occupants of the Falcon were killed.
Flight history and accident sequence
The aircraft took off from Tehran-Mehrabad Airport at 15:03. There were eight people on board: three pilots, four ground technicians and one security service employee. The aircraft landed at Kish Airport at 16:44, where it was refuelled and the four ground technicians disembarked. At 17:44 the aircraft took off from runway 27R. The pilots requested clearance for a downwind leg at an altitude of 1,000 feet and up to a distance of eight nautical miles from the airport. After seven approach and departure manoeuvres, by means of which the airport's navigation facilities were tested, had been successfully completed, the crew intended to carry out a final approach to check the PAPI lighting of runway 27. While the aircraft was flying the final turn for the approach, it struck the water of the Persian Gulf at 18:46 local time. The aircraft was completely destroyed. The entire four-member crew was killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The accident investigation found that the pilots had been fatigued. In addition, they had succumbed to a sensory perception that led them to believe their aircraft was at a greater altitude and closer to the runway than was actually the case. Furthermore, a malfunction of the radio altimeter and inadequate oversight of calibration flights by the aviation authorities were criticised.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Dassault Falcon der Iran Aseman Airlines” (revision 269743547, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall einer Dassault Falcon der Iran Aseman Airlines
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 269743547 · 2026-08-17 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q106976914
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall einer Dassault Falcon der Iran Aseman Airlines" (page 11742830, revision 269743547), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- 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 airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.