Falling hard on the heels of the worst month (June) for insured aviation losses since 9/11, July has worsened air disaster results for 2009 with the crash Wednesday of a Caspian Airlines jet in Iran.

The Russian-built Tupolev jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 168 passengers and crew.  This is the 6^th commercial airlines crash in 2009 involving fatalities.

But what is sure to be closely investigated, is the integrity of the craft after it was re-built following a non-fatal accident in June of last year.  In that incident, the 23-year-old jet was badly damaged as a result of hitting a support cable during takeoff.  Records indicate that almost US$1.7 million worth of damage was inflicted on the $3 million hull.

Questions of completeness of repairs and airworthiness of severely damaged planes are sure to be raised.  In addition, at a time when fewer passengers are boarding commercial flights, concerns are sure to voiced about whether rigorous maintenance protocols are being followed with the same discipline currently as at times when profitability margins are not so razor-thin.  All of this is likely to further shake the confidence of potential passengers, air transportation regulatory authorities, and the insurers that underwrite the aircraft and the liabilities that result when planes fall out of the sky.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 1:51 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.