TEHRAN – An Iranian military plane crashed in the country’s south-western province of Khuzestan Sunday morning, official IRNA news agency reported.
The F-5 fighter jet belonging to the Iran’s Air Force crashed, due to technical fault, while landing in the 4th military air base in Dezful, Khouzestan province, Amir Isazadeh, governor of Dezful said.
He added that Iran’s prominent pilot, Colonel Manuchehr Fattahi, who was testing the overhauled fighter, was killed in the incident.
The second pilot, who was injured in the incident, was rushed to the hospital.
Iran bought its F-5 fighters from the United States before the 1979 revolution and still has 48 in service, according to the latest estimates by Jane’s IHS Markit.
Last week, the defence ministry unveiled Iran’s first domestically built fighter jet, the Kowsar, which is closely modeled on the F-5.
https://twitter.com/Iran_Military/status/1031827234720501760
Earlier in July, an Iranian F-4 fighter crashed in the country’s south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. Two pilots of the plane managed to eject before the crash.
Also on May 29, two crew members of a light training aircraft of the army were killed as it crashed in southern Tehran. The army said the crash occurred due to technical problem.
A similar accident occurred in 2017 with a Sukhoi Su-22 fighter, killing both the pilot and co-pilot.
