1981 Armenia mid-air collision

Fatal aircraft accident over Soviet Armenia 18 July 1981 Mid-air collision, Deliberate ram attack (Soviet claims) Accident Near Yerevan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic 40.1 N 44.0 E title,inline 4 1 Transporte Aereo Rioplatense Canadair CL-44.jpg LV-JTN, the Canadair CL-44 involved in the accident at Basle Airport in October 1976. Canadair CL-44 Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense LV-JTN Tehran, Iran Larnaca, Cyprus 1 3 0 Su-15 Flagon.jpg An unidentified Su-15 Sukhoi Su-15 Soviet Air Defense Forces 1 1 The 1981 Armenia mid-air collision occurred on 18 July 1981 when a Soviet Air Defense Forces Sukhoi Su-15 crashed into the tail of a Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense Canadair CL-44 commercial transport which had strayed into Soviet airspace over the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The three crew and one passenger on the Argentine aircraft died; the Soviet pilot was able to eject to safety. Background Scotsman Stuart Allen McCafferty was hired to transport 360 t kg lb of American-made tank spare parts and ammunition from Tel Aviv to Tehran, and had a Swiss partner, arms dealer Andreas Jenni. McCafferty allegedly approached numerous United States charter airlines, offering them US$175,000 (equivalent to $US 175000 1981 -3 c today) to operate 15 flights which would carry "pharmaceuticals" between Israel and Iran, but none of them were interested. In June 1981, McCafferty travelled to Buenos Aires, where he persuaded Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense to charter him one of their CL-44 cargo aircraft.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t5QSAAAAIBAJ&pg=5631,1052161 Soviets down Argentine plane. Did crash involve Israel-Iran deal? D-4 28 July 1981 The Bulletin (Bend) 2009-11-10 LondonAugust 2024 InternetArchiveBot yes https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DNITAAAAIBAJ&pg=3027,5489450 Israel sold arms to Iran: claim 27 July 1981 The Age 1 2009-11-10 London After completing the first two round-flights from Tel Aviv to Tehran, via Larnaca in Cyprus, the airliner was returning to Cyprus after having delivered the third tranche of cargo to Iran, when on 18 July 1981 the incident occurred.http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19810718-0 Accident description Aviation Safety Network 2009-11-10 Before this incident, the Soviet Union had requested that Israel explain to it what was being transported on these cargo flights from Tel Aviv down the Turkish-Soviet border to Tehran. The Israel government ignored this request for information.https://books.google.com/books?id=oLHxCQAAQBAJ Profits of War : Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. Ben-Menashe, Ari. 2015 Trine Day 9781634240505 Chicago 104 912235679 Incident thumb|right|The incident occurred near the intersection of the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. (Armenia, unlabelled, is the central area shown in light brown.) On its return flight from Tehran, the aircraft strayed off course. After heading towards the Turkish border, it strayed into Soviet airspace in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, which led the Soviets to scramble an Air Defense Forces Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name "Flagon") to intercept the aircraft. According to Soviet reports, the crew failed to respond to radio calls and visual signals from the pilot of the fighter aircraft. The crew of the CL-44 attempted to get away from the area, and the Soviet pilot directed his aircraft into the tail of the escaping aircraft, causing both aircraft to crash near Yerevan in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Soviet fighter pilot managed to eject to safety, but the four occupants of the CL-44 – three Argentine crew and McCafferty, who had chartered the aircraft – died. Jenni, the arms dealer who procured the arms that had been delivered by the aircraft to Tehran, disputed these events, claiming that the aircraft was shot down 125 mi km inside Turkish territory. It is unclear whether the collision was intentional; the Soviet pilot said it was a deliberate attempt to down the enemy aircraft, while Western aviation experts examining his account believed he misjudged a turn and subsequently invented a story of self-sacrifice.James Oberg, "The Bloody Border": Chapter 3 from Uncovering Soviet Disasters Random House, 1988 pp. 32–49 https://web.archive.org/web/20190423080336/http://www.jamesoberg.com/border.html 2019-04-23 References External links http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1981/1981-24.htm Category:1981 in Armenia Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Armenia Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1981 Category:Mid-air collisions involving airliners Category:Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft Category:Mid-air collisions in Asia Category:Mid-air collisions in the Soviet Union Category:Violations of Soviet airspace Category:July 1981 in the Soviet Union Category:1981 disasters in the Soviet Union Category:Argentina–Soviet Union relations