A private plane that crashed on Sunday evening, killing all 11 women on board after taking off from Sharjah International Airport, had no UAE nationals onboard, a statement from the Sharjah Civil Aviation Department has said.
The Turkish plane crashed in southwest Iran on Sunday while taking the daughter of a top businessman and her friends back home to Turkey from a celebration in the UAE.
Turkish and Iranian officials said there were eight passengers – six Turkish and two Spanish – and three crew aboard the plane, which crashed while flying from Sharjah to Istanbul.
The Civil Aviation Department said the plane did not apply for maintenance procedures while on the ground.
The head of civil aviation at Sharjah Airport, Sheikh Khaled bin Essam Al Qasimi, told The National that the aircraft disappeared off the radar and that an official statement would be released once all the information had been confirmed.
According to SCAD, a private 604 Pompadier Turkish TCTRB took off at 5.16pm local time from Sharjah en route to Istanbul Ataturk Airport and disappeared from radar at 7:30pm.
Media reports in Turkey said the eight passengers were Mina Basaran, 28, the daughter of a leading Turkish businessman, and her seven friends who had spent the past days in the UAE to celebrate her marriage.
She had become engaged in October and the UAE trip was a traditional "farewell" to her friends before marriage.
Ms Basaran had become a board member of her father’s company in 2013, Turkish reports said.
The crew, including the two pilots, were also all female.
The SCAD extended its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims.
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