Rescue teams battled strong winds and treacherous slopes yesterday to find out why a Russian-made Ilyushin-76 troop carrier slammed into a mountain killing 302 Revolutionary Guards in Iran's worst air disaster.

The death toll from late Wednesday's crash was the highest in a string of air disasters in Iran involving Russian-made aircraft.

The commander of Pakistan's air force, Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife and several senior officers were among 17 people killed in the other crash about 10 hours later, the air force said.

Iranian officials said bad weather may have caused the crash in which all people on board, including 18 crew, died. The troops were returning from a mission near Iran's border with Pakistan to spend a long holiday weekend at home.

The pilot of the troop carrier complained of high winds shortly before losing radio contact.

Officials said rescue teams were looking for the flight data recorder, which could shed light on the cause of the crash. But they said their efforts had so far been impeded by the poor weather and deep snow.

A large blackened circle surrounded by pure white snow could be seen from a distance marking the spot where the plane went down, close to the summit of the Sirch mountain chain, which rises to over 3,000 meters.

A senior source close to the Iranian Government said scores of high-ranking military officials were among those killed.

In relation to the other crash, State-run Pakistan Television said it was caused by "technical reasons," but did not elaborate.

Pakistan's air force spokesman Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan told a news conference it was too early to say exactly what had caused the crash, which would have to be determined by a board of inquiry.

"It was absolutely a routine flight for a routine activity. The weather was fit for flying," he said.

The plane came down near the village of Taulanj, in an area of low hills about 27 kilometers from the town of Kohat.

Villager Zarmast Khan said he heard explosions as the plane hit the ground. "I heard a bang, followed by another big bang, and then I saw flames and smoke on the hills," he told reporters.

The body of the plane came down behind a small, rocky hill. A wing could be seen on a larger hill in the distance and smoke was rising from the site hours after the crash.

The air force officer said the Fokker plane was used to transport VIPs. The F-27 is a model that first flew in 1958 and continued to be built until the mid 1980s.

The crash came after Pakistan experienced four successive days of heavy rain, some of the heaviest downpours in decades. The weather was foggy at the time of the crash, but there was only a very light drizzle.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali expressed shock and grief at news of the crash. They said the deaths of Mir and the other officers were a great national loss.

Military officials said the air chief, who was 55 and had held his job since November 2000, and the others had been on their way to Kohat air base, where they planned to spend a few hours for an annual inspection before returning to Islamabad.

Air force spokesman Khan said the vice chief of air staff, Air Marshal Syed Qaiser Hussain, had been appointed acting air force chief.

Asked what impact the loss of the senior officers would have on the air force, he replied: "It is indeed a great loss, but the air force continues to function normally."

(China Daily February 21, 2003)