Iran minister feared dead in crash

Transport Minister Rahman Dadman was among those onboard

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- A plane carrying 29 people, including Iranian government officials, apparently crashed Thursday, authorities said.

Iran's Civil Aviation Authority said the plane had not been located yet and could not confirm if anyone aboard had died, despite international media reports that the aircraft had been found.

Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr told CNN that Iranian Transportation Minister Rahman Dadman and seven members of parliament were on their way to northern Iran to inaugurate several local transport projects.

He said Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported the authority was still searching four or five states in the northern part of the country.

Bozorgmehr reported the pilot called the control tower 10 minutes before the plane's scheduled landing at the city of Sari, 155 miles northeast of Tehran, saying he had to make an emergency landing or return to the capital.

Provincial officials "were waiting at the airport to greet them on their arrival when we lost contact with the plane," Governor Ali Asghar Ahmadi said.

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"The pilot said that because of bad weather, they were heading back to Tehran," Ahmadi said. "It was raining heavily at the time."

That was the last time anyone heard from the plane.

Authorities searched for the plane using helicopters, aircraft and boats, as Sari and Gorgan lie near the Caspian Sea.

The plane, a Russian-built YAK-40, was operated by Faraz Qeshm Airlines, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Dadman, 44, was appointed to the Cabinet in January. He is married with four children. He has a degree in civil engineering and is a member of Tehran University's teaching staff.

Dadman is known as an influential reformist politician close to President Mohammad Khatami. He had previously been in charge of Iran's railways.