Dubai: The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) confirmed on Sunday that a private jet flying from Sharjah to Istanbul has crashed in Iranian territory.
The Sharjah Department of Civil Aviation said that no Emiratis were on board the ill-fated Turkish private jet.
The department said in a statement that the plane left from Sharjah at 5:16 and disappeared from radar at 7:30 after leaving the UAE airspace.
Iranian news agency Isna earlier reported that the crash killed 11 people onboard and happened in southwestern Iran.
The plane crashed in a mountainous area and caught fire, an emergency services spokesman was quoted as saying by state TV.
“The GCAA has learned that a private plane registered in Turkey has crashed in Iranian territory. The plane was enroute from Sharjah in the UAE to Istanbul," the UAE authority said in a statement.
"The Iranian authorities will investigate this air accident and we will provide our support for the investigation as much as possible. The GCAA extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”
GCAA said it will provide more information regarding the accident soon.
Iranian state television quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran's emergency management organisation, as saying that the plane hit a mountain in Shahr-e Kord and burst into flames.
Shahr-e Kord is some 370 kilometres south of the capital, Tehran.
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"We can confirm that a Turkish private jet ... while passing through our airspace disappeared from the radar and crashed near Shahr-e Kord," Civil Aviation Oganisation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh told state television.
The plane crashed into Iran's mountainous region during heavy rain, authorities said.
The state-run Irna news agency and state television said rescuers were trying to reach the scene, high up in the Zagros Mountains.
Villagers near the crash said they saw flames coming from the plane's engine before the crash, according to a report by Iran's state-run news agency Mizan.
The semi-official Fars news agency said the plane took off from Sharjah International Airport on its way to Istanbul. A private company that handles public relations for the Sharjah airfield declined to immediately comment.
Turkey's private Dogan News Agency identified the plane as a Bombardier CL604, tail number TC-TRB. Turkey's Transport Ministry said the plane belongs to a company named Basaran Holding.
Sunday's crash comes after an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people on board in February.
With input from agencies
