Iran lost a fighter jet and two pilots. Yesterday, on February 21, the Reuters news agency reported that an F-5F fighter of the Iranian Air Force crashed in the city of Tabriz.
According to the official version, the fighter was making a training flight, during which the aircraft began to lose control due to a technical problem. The pilot tried to divert the fighter from residential areas, but fell short and crashed into the school building, which at that time was empty.
Video from the crash site:
#BREAKING ; Unfortunately, a F-5F Tiger II fighter jet of #Iran Air Force crashed into Shahid Alipur sports center in #Tabriz due to technical failure a few minutes ago. Pilot did his best to avoid hitting the residential area of the city but the aircraft finally stalled & crashed pic.twitter.com/g0TSBQxb6Q
— Babak Taghvaee - Μπάπακ Τακβαίε - بابک تقوایی (@BabakTaghvaee) February 21, 2022
In addition to the two fighter pilots, a civilian who was near the crash site was killed. According to an unofficial version, several more people were injured.
The F-5 is a light multipurpose fighter developed by Northrop in the 50s. During production (from 1959 to 1987), more than 2,000 units were assembled. The F-5 was one of the most massive fighters in its class, and its low price and simplicity of design made it popular with the "third world" countries to which it was massively supplied. In a number of countries, the F-5 continues to be on combat duty.
In the 80s, Iran received about 330 F-5 fighters in various modifications. After the Islamic Revolution, the United States stopped servicing aircraft and supplying spare parts, which made it difficult for the Iranian Air Force to maintain a fleet of fighters in good condition. Later, Iran repeatedly announced the start of production of domestic fighters, which were copies of the F-5, but for various reasons, including the lack of engines, production was never established.
