Iran TV airs images of site of airplane crash that killed 65

Iranian search-and-rescue teams on Tuesday offered the first images of the site of an airplane crash in southern Iran that killed 65 people, with officials hoping to reach the aircraft's "black boxes" to learn exactly what downed the flight. State TV aired footage showing the plane crash site against the side of a snow-covered mountain near Yasuj, some 780 km south of Tehran, Iran's capital from which the Aseman Airlines flight took off on Sunday. A helicopter pilot interviewed by state television said the crash site appeared to be only 30m from a peak on Mount Dena in the Zagros Mountain range. "Some large parts of the plane, which were labeled with the Aseman company logo, were seen," said the pilot, identified by state TV only as Capt. Soheili. Authorities hoped searchers would recover the aircraft's "black boxes" later Tuesday. That equipment, typically painted in a bright colour to allow searchers to easily find it, records cockpit conversations and radio transmissions, as well as other data from a flight. "If the conditions are right, the 'black box' will be taken out of the plane today and will be delivered to Aseman Airlines," the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Masoud As'adi Samani, the secretary of Iran's Air Society Association, as saying. The site also was too dangerous for helicopters to land on it, forcing rescue crews to jump out the hovering aircraft, according to state TV footage. The site is at an altitude of some 3,500m. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted the chief of the Iranian army's ground forces, Gen. Kiumars Heidari, as saying commandos in special vehicles would need to drive up to the site to collect the dead. <br/>