No injuries as aeroplane catches fire, makes emergency landing at Tehran airport

TEHRAN: An aeroplane made an emergency landing at the Iranian capital's Mehrabad International Airport Tuesday night as it caught fire on the runway, international media reported, but there were no casualties.

According to Iran's state media, all 100 passengers remained safe and got off the aircraft. No one was injured, it said. 

A video posted by the Islamic Republic News Agency showed flames and sparks shooting out from the back of the plane at the moment of landing.

The plane was a Fokker 100 belonging to Iran Air. Other agency reports said it was flying from an Iranian island in the Gulf to the capital.

The fire broke out after the aircraft’s landing gear did not open properly, and was later brought under control, emergency department head Pir-Hossein Kolivand said.

Emergency services and ambulances were dispatched to the site.

The pilot was unable to open the back wheels of the plane and circled the airport, attempting to open all the wheels before landing the plane on its body, according to Fars news agency.

IRIB news agency quoted Reza Jafarzadeh, the head of public relations at Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation as saying the plane had 24 passengers and nine crew. It did not give any explanation for the discrepancy in the figures.

Iran has suffered a string of plane and helicopter crashes over the past few decades. Tehran says US sanctions have long prevented it from buying new aircraft or spare parts from the West to modernise its fleet.