A passenger plane operated by the Iranian flag carrier airline, Iran Air, has made a rough landing in Isfahan in the center of the country.
Iran Air Flight 3401 took off from the Iraq capital Baghdad and headed for Iran’s third largest city, Isfahan, at around noon on Sunday. The aircraft’s rear tire burst as soon as it touched down on the runway at Isfahan’s Shahid Beheshti International Airport, Mehr News Agency reported.
The pilot however managed to avoid disaster and save the lives of all passengers on board. There have been no reports of injuries among the passengers.
It is the latest mishap for the Iranian aviation industry.
On October 18, 2011, Captain Houshang Shahbazi landed his malfunctioning plane with 94 passengers and 19 crew members without its front landing gear at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. The incident took place as the plane was landing after a flight from Moscow.
On September 3, 2011, a jet airliner of the private Iranian airline Mahan Air made a rough landing at Mashhad’s Shahid Hashemi Nejad International Airport after its front tire burst as it was landing.
In early January 2011, at least 77 people were killed and 27 others injured when an Iranian passenger plane crashed near the northwestern city of Orumiyeh in West Azarbaijan province.
The Iran Air plane reportedly approached the runway to land, but was forced to delay its touchdown due to bad weather. The aircraft then disappeared from the air traffic controllers’ radar screens and went down in a farmland after making a second attempt to land.
For nearly three decades, the US government and major aviation companies have ignored international treaties by preventing Iran from buying new aircraft and necessary spare plane parts.
——Agencies