Two Iranian fighter jet pilots are killed before take-off
Lauren Lewis For Mailonline and Ap 8 hrs ago
Two Iranian fighter jet pilots were killed on Tuesday when their ejector seats activated before take-off, smashing them into the hangar roof.
State broadcaster IRIB reported the F-5 fighter jet had a 'technical problem' that killed both the pilots, identified as as Kianoush Basati and Hossein Nami.
The report said the incident unfolded at Dezful Vahdati Air Force Base, approximately 270 miles south of the capital Tehran, and near the Iraq border.
According to BBC Persian, ejector seats were 'wrongly activated' for both the front and rear cockpit pilots. Both men 'lost their lives due to a severe impact with the roof of the hangar', the report added.
State TV channel IRNA said the incident happened before takeoff but did not elaborate.
Social media users identified Basati as a colonel and Nami as a lieutenant.
Authorities have fenced off the site pending an investigation in what caused the malfunction of the Iranian air force's jet, the report added.
Ali Farahmandpour, deputy governor and special governor of Dezful, told the broadcaster: 'This incident is being investigated by an assessment team from Teheran.'
He denied any suggestion the plane was airborne at the time of the accident and said there were no flights scheduled from the base on Tuesday.
The age of the plane was not immediately clear. Iran's air force still operates an assortment of US-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
It also has Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes but decades of Western sanctions have made it hard to maintain the ageing fleet.
