On September 29, 1981, an Iranian Army Air Force C-130 military cargo aircraft crashed into a firing range near Kahrizak, Iran, with 76 people on board. The accident claimed the lives of several high-ranking military commanders.

This incident, which resulted in the martyrdom of some of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian Army senior commanders, ranks among the significant events of the Iran-Iraq War. Following the successful Operation Thamen al-Aemmah (as) and the breaking the siege of Abadan in September 1981, senior Army and IRGC commanders including Brigadier General Valiollah Fallahi (Acting Chief of the Joint Staff of the Army), Colonel Javad Fakouri (Commander of the Air Force), Colonel Mousa Namjoo (Minister of Defense), Yousef Kolahdooz (Deputy Commander of the IRGC), and Muhammad Jahanara (Commander of the IRGC in Khorramshahr) decided to travel to Tehran to meet Imam Khomeini (ra) and then continue to Mashhad to visit the shrine of Imam Reza (as).⁠[1]

Because their assigned aircraft was unavailable at Ahvaz Airport, they boarded a C-130 that was already scheduled to fly to Tehran, carrying wounded fighters and the bodies of martyrs.⁠[2]

The flight crew consisted of Captain Ali Soulati as pilot, with First Lieutenants Mahmoud Khorramdel and Mostafa Izadifard as co-pilots.⁠[3] The aircraft departed Mehrabad Airport at 12:30 PM on September 29, 1981, flew the Tehran– Bushehr– Ahvaz route, landed in Ahvaz, and after approximately one hour and fifteen minutes on the ground, took off again for Tehran. On board were the bodies of 22 martyrs, 27 war-wounded, 40 other passengers, and 9 crew members— 76 people in total. About one hour into the return flight, the crew reported an explosion in the right side of the cabin near the electrical fuse panel. They informed Mehrabad that all electrical power had failed and all engines had shut down.⁠[4] According to some reports, Phantom pilots flying near Tehran reported saw two unknown luminous objects in the sky.⁠[5] One Phantom was directed to investigate, but its radar and electronics reportedly malfunctioned due to proximity to the object, and the pursuit was abandoned. The timing of the C-130’ s power loss coincided with this radar failure on the Phantom.⁠[6]

At the pilot’ s request, Colonel Fakouri entered the cockpit to assess the situation and help one crew member in manually lowering the landing gear.⁠[7] The pilot then asked the senior commanders to move into the cockpit for safety, but they declined and remained with the others in the cabin.⁠[8] Moments later, the crew decided to attempt an emergency landing in a desert area near the Kahrizak firing range. The aircraft touched down hard on unprepared soil with the landing gear only partially extended. The pilot and crew managed to avoid a catastrophic initial impact in the darkness, but the gear immediately retracted, and the plane skidded on its belly. After sliding roughly 10 meters, it struck an abandoned qanat embankment, causing the left wing to drop. Engine No. 1 propeller and the left wingtip struck the ground, tearing open the left wing, spilling fuel, and causing a fire at the rear of the left wing. The aircraft continued sliding on its belly for about 200 meters. The tail and fuselage ended up in the path of the spreading fuel fire; the fire quickly consumed the left wing, fuselage, and tail, cutting off escape routes for those still inside. After the plane stopped, the pilot and co-pilot escaped through cockpit windows and rushed to help the survivors exiting through breaches behind the cockpit and under the right wing. Those unable to move— due to injuries from the impact, falling cargo, or the martyrs’ coffins— were trapped when the aircraft’ s fuel caught fire. The fire spread to the left wing, fuselage, and tail, and all on board were martyred.⁠[9]

Minutes after the crash, when contact with the aircraft could not be re-established, two F-4 Phantoms in the area were assigned to search. At 7:47 PM, one pilot reported sighting a long trail of fire.⁠[10] At 8:30 PM, a Chinook helicopter and two Bell 214s were dispatched to the scene to help the survivors.⁠[11] Firefighters eventually extinguished the fire, and the injured were evacuated by helicopter.⁠[12] Of the 76 on board, only 27 were pulled out alive; tragically, five of them later were martyred due to injuries.⁠[13] Among the martyrs were Brigadier General Valiollah Fallahi, Colonel Javad Fakouri, Colonel Mousa Namjoo, Yousef Kolahdooz, and Muhammad Jahanara.⁠[14]

In the aftermath, Imam Khomeini (ra) described these commanders in a message as devoted and courageous servants of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic homeland, who had fulfilled their duty with honor and bravery until they attained divine mercy and martyrdom.⁠[15]

Various explanations for the crash have circulated, including sabotage, friendly fire, or an Iraqi air attack. Initially, Iraqi Air Force involvement was suggested, but surviving crew members reported that after an explosion, they managed to bring the aircraft down near Kahrizak, though the hard landing and subsequent fire claimed many lives.

An investigation team from the Iranian Army Air Force examined the incident and, based on evidence, ruled out sabotage or friendly fire. They attributed the crash to an unexplained total electrical failure, followed by inadequate crew response to the emergency and the improper execution of the forced landing. A separate inquiry team invited from the Pakistani Air Force reached a somewhat similar conclusion. The precise cause of the power loss, however, remained undetermined.⁠[16]

The Iranian Army Air Force released its final report on May 24, 1982, without assigning blame to any individual.⁠[17]

In October 2015, a memorial site honoring the martyrs of the September 29 incident- Fallahi, Fakouri, Kolahdooz, Jahanara, and Namjoo— was inaugurated at the crash site in the Doutouyeh area of Kahrizak, with national and military officials attending.⁠[18] “ Moammai-e C-130 (The Mystery of the C‑130) ”, a 2018 documentary directed by Seyyed Mahdi Dezfuli, examines the September 29 incident in detail.⁠[19]