Tar fails with input/output error when writing to SCSI tape device on Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Issue

• When I try to make a simple backup using tar, the command fails with an error.

tar: /dev/nst0: Cannot write: Input/output error
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now

• I also see the following error in /var/log/messages:

Oct  1 15:06:16 hostname kernel: st0: Sense Key : Aborted Command [current] 
Oct  1 15:06:16 hostname kernel: st0: Add. Sense: Information unit iuCRC error detected