Iran airliner overshoots runway, stops in highway

TEHRAN, Jan 27, 2020 (AFP) – An Iranian passenger plane overshot a runway as it landed Monday in the southwestern city of Bandar-e Mahshahr, barrelling into an adjacent highway without causing casualties, state TV reported.

“Arriving at Mahshahr airport, the pilot landed the aircraft too late and this caused him to miss the runway,” the broadcaster quoted the head of Khuzestan province’s aviation authority as saying.

This “caused the aircraft to overshoot the runway and stop in a boulevard” next to the airport, Mohammadreza Rezaeia said.

The McDonnell Douglas jet, belonging to Iran’s Caspian Airlines, was flying from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport with 135 passengers plus the plane’s crew.

State TV reported that all were safe.

A state TV reporter travelling on the plane told the broadcaster that the aircraft’s “back wheel had broken off, as we saw it was left on the runway” and said the plane had been moving with no wheels before it ground to a halt.

Iran’s aviation authority said “the cause of the incident is being investigated”.

The Islamic republic had been planning to upgrade its decrepit fleet after long-standing US sanctions were lifted following the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

But when US President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord in 2018 and reimposed crippling economic sanctions, the treasury department revoked licenses for Boeing and Airbus to sell passenger jets to Iran.