Iran’s air safety questioned after multiple flight incidents
Panicked Iranians are nervously debating safety onboard domestic airliners after three airplanes nearly crashed in three consecutive days.
Hundreds of Iranian airline passengers experienced extreme panic in a series of back-to-back flight incidents in recent days, fortunately escaping what could have otherwise turned into deadly tragedies.
On Jan. 27, a narrow-body MD-83 operated by Iran’s Caspian Airlines skidded off the runway upon landing in the southwestern port city of Mahshahr. After the tires failed to descend upon landing, the aircraft ended up lying on its belly on a busy highway outside the airport. Videos went viral of the 135 passengers getting off the plane, some from exit doors and others over the wings, after they survived the nail-biting moment. The scene of the “plane right on a city street” was “a surreal and apocalyptic image,” one Iranian tweeted. Iran’s civil aviation organization later announced the damaged plane had been pulled back to the airport to be permanently grounded.
The crash-landing occurred only one day after a “malfunctioning engine” on a Tehran-bound Qeshm Airlines plane from the northeastern city of Gorgan forced the pilot to abort takeoff and evacuate passengers.
Earlier, on Jan. 25, following departure from Imam Khomeini International Airport, an Airbus A300-600 operated by Iran Airtour heading toward the Turkish city of Istanbul had to circle around a certain area west of Tehran several times to consume fuel and reduce weight for an emergency return to the airport. Iran’s aviation organization blamed the incident on “a minor technical fault” without elaborating further. Airport officials have also canceled several domestic flights in recent days, offering no specific explanations and further adding to multiple unanswered questions.
