The plane that crashed in a foggy mountainous region of Iran Sunday — killing all 66 people aboard — had technical problems during a flight a few weeks ago, according to a local report.

Aseman Airlines flight 3705 went down about 50 minutes into its 485 mile journey between Tehran’s Mehrabad airport and Yasuj, a city in the south of the country, killing 60 passengers, including a child, and 6 crewmembers.

The airline has dismissed the possibility of a technical failure and pinned the blame on severe weather conditions in the region, Al Jazeera reported.

But Iranian news website Roozarooz reported the aircraft had “technical problems midair during a recent flight a few weeks ago” and had to make an emergency landing.

The plane, an ATR-72, had recently re-joined the airline’s fleet after undergoing repairs for 7 years, The Guardian reported.

Aviation specialists suspected the plane could have been in the wrong position as it made it’s descent and hit the mountains.

“Basically it’s a failure of navigation. An airplane hitting mountains in clouds is like a ship hitting rocks,” aviation safety specialist David Learmount told Al Jazeera.

The heavy fog also hampered the twelve search and rescue teams, who have yet to locate any debris or bodies in Semirom’s Mount Dena.

It’s also too dangerous to send helicopters, but a drone will be flown to the area, Red Crescent Society officials said.

State television footage showed frantic families waiting for news at Yasuj airport.

“Please pray for them to come back alive,” a young woman tearfully told a reporter.

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani asked for an investigation and its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent his condolences.

Aseman Airlines is the third largest semi-private air carrier in the country and offers mainly domestic, but some international, flights. It is banned from flying in the European Union over safety concerns.

With decades of international sanctions, Iran’s commercial aircraft fleet has aged, and air accidents occur more regularly — killing 1,985 people since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

After the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran made deals to buy passenger planes from Boeing and Airbus for tens of billions of dollars.

Approval from the US government will still be required before the deal can take place.

With Post wires