Iranian Boeing 737 returns to Mashhad after tyre tread comes off on take-off
An Iranian Boeing 737 made an emergency return to Mashhad on Monday after part of a tyre came apart on take-off and the pilot reported an engine problem. Video filmed on board appears to show a section of the cabin ceiling hanging loose above passengers.
The Sepehran Airlines flight to Kermanshah took off at about 17:30 local time on 15 September, Hassan Jafari, public relations director for airports in Khorasan Razavi province, told the ISNA news agency. The tread separated from one tyre as the aircraft left the runway, he said, adding that the tyre itself had not burst.
Once airborne, the pilot told the control tower the engine was in an emergency condition and turned back. The aircraft landed safely at Mashhad’s Shahid Hasheminejad International Airport, and all passengers left the plane unharmed and were flown to Kermanshah on a replacement flight, Jafari said. Runway 31L was closed for a time and has since reopened.
The Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran is investigating the cause, he said.
Footage shared on social media by the account Breaking Aviation News & Videos shows a long run of ceiling panels detached and dangling over the seats while the cabin lights remain on, with passengers holding the seatbacks in front of them and ducking. Iranian officials have not commented on the cabin damage, and the footage has not been independently verified.
According to the aviation blog View from the Wing, which cited the Airfleets database, the aircraft was EP-FSU, a Boeing 737-300 that first flew in July 1996. Sepehran’s other 737 incident this year came on 25 August, when a 737-500 ran off the runway at Mashhad after landing.
Iranian airlines have long relied on old aircraft because sanctions restrict their access to new planes and spare parts. In December 2021 an Iranian airline association official said more than half the country’s civilian fleet was grounded for lack of parts, the Times of Israel reported at the time.
On 8 September the US Treasury added Sepehran and Iran’s other remaining airlines to its sanctions list, targeting companies that help Iranian aviation obtain aircraft and support abroad. The Treasury says the measures are aimed at the regime’s use of aviation to move weapons and personnel.
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The story Ceiling comes loose mid-air on Iranian 737 after tyre and engine trouble as seen on Thaiger News.
