2 pilots injured as fighter jet crashes in central Iran

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – An F-14 fighter jet crashed near the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Saturday due to engine failure, officials said.

The two pilots on board the aircraft, however, managed to escape. They have been admitted to a local hospital with injuries.

The public relations department at Shahid Babaei Airbase in Isfahan blamed the crash of the aging Grumman F-14 Tomcat on a "technical failure.”

The incident took place at around 10:30 am local time during a mission, it said in a statement, adding that the pilot and co-pilot used parachute to land safely.

It is the second such incident near the central Isfahan city in last two months.

On May 24, two young pilots died after their F-7 fighter jet took off from Shahid Babaei Airbase and crashed 200 east of the city.

The aircraft was reportedly on a training mission and crashed due to a "technical failure,” officials said at the time.

Before that, an F-5 fighter jet belonging to the Iranian army crashed in February in the northern city of Tabriz, killing two pilots and a civilian.

According to aviation observers, Iran bought nearly 80 F-14 Tomcat fighter planes from the US in the years before the 1979 revolution, when they cut off diplomatic ties. Some of these aging planes are still operated by the country's Air Force.