F-5 fighter plane crash kills 3 in Iran's northwest
Iran’s state-run news agency reports that a fighter jet has crashed into a stadium in a city in northwest Iran
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A fighter jet crashed into a stadium in a city in northwest Iran, the country’s state-run news agency reported Monday. The crash killed two pilots and a civilian.
IRNA said the F-5 fighter crashed into a stadium in a residential area of Tabriz, a city of 1.6 million residents. Authorities are investigating the incident, the report said.
Gen. Reza Yousefi, commander of the air base in Tabriz, said the crashed jet had been used for training and suffered a technical problem on its final flight.
“Pilots could not reach the runway,” he said, according to the report.
In an effort to avoid crashing into the residential area, the pilots guided the jet to the stadium, he said. The report quoted Yousefi as saying, “Pilots sacrificed themselves, they could (have) used the ejection system, but they refused to do it.”
Instead, they headed for the stadium “to keep people safe,” Yousefi said in the report.
Iran’s air force has an assortment of U.S.-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also has Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes. Decades of Western sanctions have made it hard to maintain the aging fleet.