Armenian Reporter:

Family and friends worldwide grieve those who died in Tehran-Yerevan flight (updated)

Published: Saturday July 18, 2009

The Armenian tricolor flew at half-mast over the main government building in Republic Square in Yerevan on July 16, the day after a Tehran-Yerevan flight crashed, killing all 168 people on board. Tigran Tadevosian / Photolure

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Caspian Airlines Flight 7908

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Yerevan - Lousik Tarbinian Vartanian, 63, a mother of five, was always afraid of flying, says her daughter Hermineh, who lives in Toronto. But this time, as she prepared to leave Tehran on board Caspian Airlines flight 7908, bound for Yerevan, she was happy, not worried. She was looking forward to her youngest son's wedding on August 15.

Having always encouraged her children to pursue their education, she was very proud of her son Vaheh, who was admitted last year to a Ph.D. program in architecture. On board she carried a tiara for Vaheh's fiancée, some wedding gifts, and candles. She had been concerned that the candles might melt, so she had covered them with ice. They melted anyway.

As she boarded, she called her husband and her daughter Lida – whose husband had only recently lost his mother – and told them there were no close friends on the flight, but she knew many of the people who were boarding with her.

168 lives lost

Her daughter Hilma was waiting along with her husband and daughter at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan when they heard the shocking news.

Lousik's airplane, a 22-year-old Russian-made Tupelev 154, crashed 16 minutes after it took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday, July 15. Witnesses cited by the BBC say it nose-dived from the sky with its tail on fire near the Iranian city of Ghazvin at about 11:30 a.m. local time.

"On board the plane there were 151 adults, 2 children, and 15 crew members," Arlen Davudyan, Caspian Airlines' representative in Yerevan, told Reuters at Zvartnots airport. Everyone on board is presumed dead.

Mr. Davudyan had relatives on the plane. His wife's brother had moved from Iran to Australia with his family some years ago. The children, Areen and Ani Melkom Abkar, had come to see relations in Iran and were making what was to be their first trip to Armenia.

Ani had been part of the editorial board of Sydney’s monthly Garoon, editor-in-chief Tamraz Hovsepian says. He adds that Areen had recently completed a Ph.D.

Another wedding

Tatul Moradian had boarded the flight to join his wife Vanuhi in Yerevan; they too were looking forward to a wedding. Their son Hamik was tying the knot. And Mr. Moradian looked forward to seeing his daughter Hermineh and her two children – her son, and a daughter born only a few months ago – who had recently arrived in Yerevan from their home outside Paris.

Also among the passengers was Levon Davidian, a psychiatrist who served from 2000 to 2004 as a member of Iran's parliament, representing the Armenian communities of the northern part of Iran.

There were perhaps three dozen ethnic Armenians on the flight.

According to Armenia's civil aviation authorities, the passengers included 4 citizens of Armenia, and the crew included two more, Grigor Barsegyan, 42, and Surik Soghomonyan, 43. Also among the passengers were two Georgian citizens, Natalia Nikonova, wife of her country's chargé d'affaires in Tehran, and Georgian Embassy staffer Givi Chkadua.

Coming together

Among the many non-Armenian Iranians on the flight was Sadegh Najafi Lahiji of Rasht, who was starting what was meant to be a four-day vacation with his family, travel agent Kamelia Balian said. Ms. Balian's husband was supposed to be on the flight but called that morning to say he would be returning home to Yerevan a day or two later.

Mr. Najafi Lahiji and his family were booked at the Marriott and had scheduled tours of Armenia for three of the four days they planned to be in the country.

Eight members of Iran's national youth judo team, along with two coaches and a delegation chief, were on the flight, on their way to train with the Armenian judo team and attend a competition in Hungary in August.

Even as they digested the news and fielded calls and visits from relatives, friends, and loved ones, the Caspian Airlines representative Mr. Davudyan and Ms. Balian had to make arrangements for passengers who had planned to board the plan on its return trip to Tehran. Ms. Balian says she got a concerned call from the management of Aviatrans Hotel, who offered three free rooms for stranded passengers. "Everyone has really come together out of concern and love and solidarity," she said.

A day of mourning

At Yerevan's airport, a notice on a wall listed the people who were on board. Health brigades treated relatives and friends for shock and heart problems.

Citing Caspian Airlines representatives, ArmeniaNow reported that 60 relatives of the deceased left for Iran the next day at the company's expense. One family informed the Armenian Reporter that they had to delay their unexpected trip to Iran because of Iranian visa problems for a child.

President Serge Sargsian declared July 16 a day of mourning. The Armenian flag flew at half-mast. Parties planned in connection with the Golden Apricot International Film Festival were canceled. The U.S. Embassy postponed a ceremony marking the donation of equipment to Armenia's police. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which lost two members in the flight – Mr. Davidian, the former member of Iran's parliament, and Azat Hovhannesian – called off a planned protest in front of the Foreign Ministry.

At the crash site

The crash gouged a trench more than 10 feet deep in a field near the village of Jannatabad, the New York Times reported, quoting state news agencies. The wreckage was spread over a large area of farmland, 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Tehran.

Investigators report having found two of the three flight data recorders or black boxes. They said the recorders were damaged but were expected to yield data to help find the reasons for the crash.

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