• Helicopter came down in Dorcheh city of Isfahan province.
• Sanctions-hit Iran suffered many air disasters in recent years.
• Pilot killed when F-4 jet crashed in Hamadan province last week.

An Iranian Army helicopter crashed into a fruit market in the central province of Isfahan on Tuesday, killing the pilot, co-pilot, and two merchants, state media reported.

The helicopter came down in the city of Dorcheh, causing a fire that was put out by emergency services, the reports added.

The pilot, co-pilot, and two fruit vendors on the ground were killed, the official IRNA news agency said, attributing the crash to “a technical malfunction”.

Sanctions-hit Iran has suffered several air disasters in recent years, with officials complaining of difficulties acquiring spare parts to keep its ageing fleets in the air.

Experts say Iran has a poor air safety record, with repeated crashes, many involving aircraft bought before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and lacking original spare parts for maintenance.

Last week, a US-built F-4 fighter belonging to Iran’s regular air force crashed in the western province of Hamadan, killing one pilot during a training flight.

NEW DELHI: Technical incidents such as engine oil and fuel leaks affecting Air India flights reached the highest rate in at least 14 months in January, a company document shows, underscoring growing strain on the carrier’s revamp ambitions.

India’s second-largest airline has come under scrutiny from the country’s safety regulator since a crash last year killed 260 people. It has since reported many safety lapses and, in December, admitted there was a “need for urgent improvements in process discipline, communication, and compliance culture”.

In January, Air India recorded 1.09 technical incidents per 1,000 flights, quadrupling from levels of just 0.26 in December 2024, according to a document reviewed by Reuters that the carrier submitted to the Indian government in February. It did not provide earlier data.

Air India operated more than 17,500 flights in January and recorded 23 technical incidents on its international and domestic flights, according to the document, which is not public. At least 21 of those incidents were investigated formally by the airline.

“Systemic improvements (are) being introduced across flight ops, training, engineering quality, and procedural oversight to prevent recurrence,” the Air India document said.

Air India and India’s civil aviation ministry did not respond to Reuters‘ queries.

The document provided only selective comparisons to global airline industry norms based on data that is not publicly available and did not contain information on the airline’s budget subsidiary Air India Express.

Air India, which is owned by Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has been struggling to rebuild its reputation and international network, and replace its ageing fleet that has been hobbled by supply chain delays.

Pakistan’s airspace closure for Indian carriers due to diplomatic tensions has also hit it financially and forced it to shut some long-haul routes.

India’s civil aviation ministry told lawmakers this month that 82.5% of the 166 Air India aircraft it analysed since January 2025 had recurring technical defects, compared with 36.5% for market leader IndiGo. The ministry gave no further details.

The Air India document said the technical incidents reported last month included engine stall warnings, issues related to flight control and hydraulics, and engine oil and fuel leaks.

There were incidents on both its Airbus and Boeing aircraft, including five instances of fuel or engine oil leaks in the month. A Dubai-Mumbai flight on arrival found that an engine’s oil quantity was “low”.

In another incident, a Delhi-Dubai flight on January 12 was forced to turn back after takeoff due to the absence of water in the lavatory and galley, the document said.

Operational incidents, including rejected takeoffs, flying at a restricted altitude and taking off with incorrect settings, stood at 0.29 per 1,000 flights in January, more than double the level in December 2024, the document stated.

But there has been a “decrease in operational incidents” in recent months, it added.

Detailed steps to address issues

Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, but has placed orders for over 500 more aircraft.

But revamping an airline owned by the Indian government until 2022 has been a major challenge, and Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has repeatedly complained that supply chain disruptions have delayed cabin retrofits.

The Air India February document detailed steps it is taking to “drive down” the various technical issues.

To control leakage events, it has introduced a periodic inspection program for its fleet of Airbus A320s, and replaced all steering-system hydraulic hoses on all its Boeing 777s.

A periodic air-conditioning leak-check programme has also been put in place, and Air India is implementing “targeted engineering actions” to “strengthen aircraft reliability and reduce incident rates”, the document said.

Air India’s issues have also attracted international regulatory scrutiny. Britain’s aviation authority asked Air India to explain why a Boeing Dreamliner jet that was grounded on arrival in India for safety checks took off from London with a possibly faulty fuel switch, Reuters reported this month.

Air India replied that it had reminded pilots that they needed to operate in accordance with proper procedures and it had protectively replaced the throttle control module on the plane, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

• Democrats plan boycotts, silent protests during speech.
• Cost-of-living worries test Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ message.
• Iran questions hang over foreign policy signals tonight.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will try to sell voters on the record of his first year back in power during his State of the Union address Tuesday, despite suffering a series of stinging blows ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections.

After a year of breakneck activity that has stunned America and the world, the 79-year-old Republican’s flagship speech to Congress — which he has largely sidelined — comes at a tense time.

Trump is fuming over a string of recent setbacks, including dismal approval ratings and the Supreme Court striking down his signature tariffs, a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

Adding to the drama, Trump will be speaking right in front of the same justices — including two of his own appointees — whom he branded “fools” over the stunning ruling.

If Democrats win back either the House or Senate in November, it could paralyse the rest of Trump’s second term — and put him at the risk of a possible third impeachment.

But Trump shows no signs of backing down in a speech that is likely to mix a defence of his first year with a launching pad for the midterms.

“It’s going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about,” Trump said at the White House on Monday.

The president also dismissed “fake” polls including a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll published on Sunday showing his approval rating at just 39%.

Democrat protests

Democrats are lining up responses including boycotts and silent protests for the address — mandated by the US Constitution which says that the president shall “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union.”

Tina Smith, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, said she would skip it because Trump uses his speeches to “spread lies — not to mention they’re long and boring.”

The speech comes after a year in which Trump has asserted unprecedented executive power, targeted opponents and slapped his name on buildings at home, while upending the world order abroad.

Trump will be keen to tout what his administration says is its success on immigration, especially on cutting crossings over the Mexican border.

But polls show that while voters like his overall stance on immigration, they don’t like the harsh deportation raids in which two US citizens were shot dead in January.

On the economy, he will be selling what he claims is success in cutting inflation and restoring what he calls a “Golden Age” of America.

But billionaire Trump also faces a challenge to convince voters who are still worried about the cost of living — which many blame on the tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down.

Iran tensions

The world will meanwhile be watching for hints from Trump about possible military action against Iran, with a huge US military build-up pressing Tehran to make a nuclear deal.

The key speech has been used to advance foreign policy before — former president George W. Bush fashioned his 2003 State of the Union speech, for instance, to make the case for war with Iraq.

Adding to the interest will be the guests that both Republicans and Democrats bring to watch the address from the gallery, part of a long tradition.

Trump has invited the US men’s ice hockey team after they won Olympic gold for the first time since 1980 by beating Canada 2-1 in Italy.

But the women’s team said they were declining Trump’s invitation, US media reported, a day after the president joked in a call to the men’s team that he would be impeached if he didn’t invite the women.

Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives said they were bringing as guests the family members of a victim of disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump has denied any links to sex offender Epstein but the scandal continues to nag at his presidency.