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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Worried Iran pilot asks passengers to pray |
| 2009-10-29 |
| A WORRIED Iranian airline pilot asked passengers to start praying after his plane was hit by a technical glitch today, highlighting once again the notorious record of Tehran's aircraft. The Aseman Airlines Boeing plane had taken off from Tehran airport after a six-hour delay, but had to return following a technical fault, the ISNA news agency quoted a passenger as recounting. "The plane took off at 0015 in the morning and had to land back in Tehran after 45 minutes," the passenger said. "The pilot told the passengers 'the plane is facing a technical problem and has to return. So please pray'." Iran has been under years of international sanctions hampering its ability to buy modern planes from major manufacturers, such as Boeing and Airbus, or spare parts, and has suffered a number of air disasters over the past decade. Its civil and military fleet is made up of ancient aircraft in very poor condition due to their age, and lack of maintenance. In July it suffered one of its worst air disasters when a Caspian Airlines plane, a Russian Tupolev 154, crashed near Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, killing all 168 people on board. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 "please remove your seat cushion, which also functions as a flotation device, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-10-29 17:45 |
| #4 It worked! Good call, pilot. They need to note this in the after-action report and recommend the procedure to the entire fleet. This new method of divine intervention has potential to save millions in maintenance costs alone. |
| Posted by: gromky 2009-10-29 14:54 |
| #3 Passengers flying on Russian airplanes must be instructed to pray? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-10-29 14:35 |
| #2 Unfortunately for the PIC, it, apparently, was not a GE part that was needed. Otherwise, there would have been boxes and boxes of 'em in the maintenance department.... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2009-10-29 14:35 |
| #1 Allan to the rescue!!! |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-10-29 14:31 |