BEIRUT — When the managing director of a small, trouble-prone Iranian airline won official permission in March to lease a couple of aging Russian-made airplanes, the country's small circle of aviation professionals gossiped about the strings he must have pulled to get the government's approval.
And when one of the planes burst aflame on the runway in late July, killing the executive, Mehdi Dadpei, his son and 14 others, few in the industry were surprised.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, October 07, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 51 words Type of Material: Correction
Iranian aviation: A Sept. 15 article in Section A about the poor safety record of Iran's civil aviation industry said the managing director of Aria Air and his son were among those killed in a plane crash in late July. The son was not on the flight and was not killed.
"Aria was famous for not adhering to safety standards for years," said an Iranian aviation industry insider, who spoke extensively to The Times on condition of anonymity. "Every time they had a problem, the managing director knew someone high up in the government who made it possible for Aria to continue as before."
In the wake of the crash, a government official said the airline's permission to operate had been revoked.
Iranian officials have long accused the West of playing politics with people's lives by imposing sanctions that prevent upgrades to the country's aging aircraft fleet. On Saturday, an Iranian aviation official called the sanctions an "act against humanity." But the aviation insider charged that authorities in Tehran were also to blame for a recent spate of deadly crashes.
The airline industry official, who asked that his name and his company not be published out of fear for his personal and job security, accused politically motivated regulators of failing to adequately inspect and publicize aviation accidents, and of bending rules to accommodate well-connected airlines.
"It is apparent that many of our safety concerns and problems are due to U.S. sanctions," said the official, whose name and title The Times independently verified. "But when you look closer, you will note that mismanagement on behalf of the Iran civil aviation authorities is to blame for a majority of what is so sadly taking place."
He provided a rare insider view on a contentious issue between Iran and the West, as well as the inner workings of a key industry in an opaque country.
Iran has experienced 14 fatal civilian and military aviation accidents since 2000, a figure experts describe as one of the worst in the world. Since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to office in 2005, there have been at least seven fatal accidents.
