42 Ukrainian and 6 Russian citizens were on board An-140 airplane that crashed in Iran

There were 42 Ukrainian, including 6 crew members, and 6 Russian citizens on board the crashed in Iran airplane Antonov An-140, which belonged to the Ukrainian air company "Aeromost-Kharkov". This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

According to preliminary information, all the people on board the airplane were killed.

The An-140 took off from Kharkov at 12.20 /local time/ on Monday and headed for Ardistan, the Isfahan province in Iran, with a stopover in the city of Trabzon, Turkey.

The Ukrainian pilots, due to poor visibility, lost control of the airjet and wrecked into the mountains.

The Russian and Ukrainian specialists, who had consulted the Iranian Aircraft Making Factory, were flying to participate in celebrations dedicated to the assembly of the second serial airjet Iran-140, manufactured in Iran.

The contract, concerning the organisation of the serial production of Antonov An-140 airjet, was signed by Iran and Ukraine in 1995. The assembling of the jets took place at the Iranian Aircraft Making Factory HESA in the Isfahan city with the participation of the Kharkov Air Constructing company.

The first serial jet Iran-140, which had been assembled at HESA by Ukrainian and Iranian specialists, took off for the first time in March of 2001. The second serial plane was to be put into operation in December this year.

In line with a project Ukraine and Iran signed for a term of at least 20 years, 100 Antonov An-140 planes are to be produced. The production capacity of 12 planes per year is to be reached in 2004. The cost of a single airjet is estimated at $8,5mln.