Tupolev had an accident again", "Bird of Death", "Air Bus of Death", "Tupolev of Death", "Bird Shroud"...

These are the descriptions of one of the most successful commercial airplanes made by the former Soviet Union and current Russia in the mental space of a large number of Iranian people. This content is copied from Tayareh's blog.

Tupolev Tu-154 (Tupolev Tu-154) is a three-engine medium-range aircraft that first flew on October 4, 1968 and officially entered service on February 7, 1972.

The Tupolev company built a total of 1026 of this type of jets, of which less than 100 were owned by Iranian companies at different times. Also, since 1968, there have been 39 fatal Tupolev 154 accidents around the world, most of them were caused by factors related to the aircraft or its extensive use in harsh conditions, and 4 of these 39 cases occurred in Iran.

Technical Specifications

Aircraft engine: Kuznetsov NK-8 for Tu-154A, Tu-154 and Tu-154B models, as well as Soloviev D-30KU engine in Tu-154M model
Maximum speed: 975 km/h
Flight range: 6600 km (with maximum fuel)
- The distance between the two ends of the wings: 37.55 meters
Wing surface area: 201.5 square meters
Length of the plane: 48 meters
Height: 11.4 meters
Passenger capacity: between 158 and 180 passengers in different models
- Maximum fuel: 49700 liters

In Iran, Iran Airtour, Taban, Aria, Kish Air, Qeshm Air, Erm Air, Mahan, Zagros, Aseman and Caspian Airlines used the Tu-154M model of this aircraft, but in the last days of this aircraft's presence in Iran, only Airtour, Caspian Airlines , Kish Air and Taban were the users of this plane. This content is copied from Tayareh's blog.

Following the numerous accidents of this plane in Iran and the negative mentality of the people that was mentioned at the beginning of this article, and after the crash of Tupolev Caspian in Qazvin in July 2018, by the order of the then head of the Civil Aviation Organization, Tupolev 154 flight from 30 February 2018 It is prohibited in Iran and these planes were grounded forever. This ban took place while there were 22 Tupolev 154 aircraft in Iran at that time, all of which were owned by domestic airlines. And Irtor Company, which was the largest operator of this aircraft in Iran and owned 13 of these aircraft on that date, before issuing this order and with the arrival of two MD aircraft in its fleet, two of its thirteen Tupolev aircraft had removed from the fleet.

Accordingly, with the issuance of this order, seventeen Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, including eleven aircraft belonging to Irtur, two aircraft belonging to Kishair, three aircraft belonging to Caspian and one aircraft belonging to Taban, have been transferred to the parking lot and the commercial flight file of this The plane was closed forever in Iran with 446 dead.

Among the marginal points of the Tupolev flight ban, we can mention Hamid Behbahani, the then minister of the Ministry of Roads and Transport, in November 2018, who asked airlines to use Tupolev to export vegetables at a conference in Kish Island.

Real Photo:

Credit to @XAircraftManufacturer's for his original XJ-154
The aircraft livery is made by JP11