Iran airliner overshoots runway, stops on highway

TEHRAN: An Iranian passenger plane overshot a runway as it landed Monday in the south western city of Bandar-e Mahshahr, barrelling into an adjacent highway without causing casualties, state TV reported.

"Arriving at Mahshahr airport, the pilot landed the aircraft too late and this caused him to miss the runway," the broadcaster quoted the head of Khuzestan province’s aviation authority as saying.

This "caused the aircraft to overshoot the runway and stop in a boulevard" next to the airport, Mohammadreza Rezaeia said.

The McDonnell Douglas jet, belonging to Iran’s Caspian Airlines, was flying from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport with 135 passengers plus the plane’s crew. State TV reported that all were safe. A state TV reporter travelling on the plane told the broadcaster that the aircraft’s “back wheel had broken off, as we saw it was left on the runway” and said the plane had been moving with no wheels before it ground to a halt.