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Iranian plane skids off runway in Ahwaz

January 27, 2020
A Caspian Airlines aircraft landed on a highway after it overshot the runway in Mahshahr, Monday. — AFP
A Caspian Airlines aircraft landed on a highway after it overshot the runway in Mahshahr, Monday. — AFP

ABU DHABI — An Iranian passenger plane with 150 people on board skidded off the airport runway in Iran’s Ahwaz province on Monday, Al Arabiya reported citing social media sources.

The Caspian Airlines aircraft, which derailed off the runway and landed in the middle of the streets, was reportedly arriving from Tehran. There have been no reported injuries.

Video footage showed passengers being evacuated from the plane, which appeared to be stationary in a field near a road.

Provincial airport director Mohammad Reza Rezanian said all of the passengers had been safely taken off the plane.

The incident comes as Iran is still coping with the aftermath of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran. The plane was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards earlier this month amid heightened tensions with the United States, killing all 176 people aboard.

Iranian state television said the plane involved in Monday’s incident came in harder than usual and lost its landing gear as it hit the tarmac.

No landing gear was evident in pictures of the plane after the accident, but it was not immediately clear if it failed to deploy or somehow collapsed as the jet hit runway at about 9:30 a.m. local time. The accident is under investigation, officials said.

Iranian reports identified the plane only as a McDonnell Douglas without being more specific, but Caspian has only the McDonnell Douglas MD-83s in its fleet. — Al Arabiya English


January 27, 2020
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