Iranian passenger plane ends up on highway after skidding off runway during landing

A plane with up to 150 people on board ended up on a highway after reportedly skidding off a runway during a landing in Iran.

The Caspian Airlines craft is said to have not had its wheels fully down when it landed in the city of Mahshahr, 379 miles south of Tehran near the border with Iraq and Kuwait.

No major injuries were reported after the botched touchdown and video showed passengers getting out of the plane.

Reports put the number of people on board between 135 and 150.

It comes as Iran is still coping with the aftermath of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran on January 8.

The plane was shot down by the Revolutionary Guard earlier this month amid heightened tensions with the United States, killing all 176 people onboard.

Iranian state television said the plane involved in the more recent incident came in harder than usual and lost its landing gear as it hit the tarmac.

No landing gear was evident in pictures of the plane after the accident, but it was not immediately clear if it failed to deploy or somehow collapsed as the jet hit the runway at about 9.30am local time.

Officials said the accident is under investigation.

The flight from the Tehran-based airline originated in the Iranian capital.

Iranian reports identified the plane only as a McDonnell Douglas without being more specific.

Read more

'Disastrous mistake': Iran says it shot down passenger jet killing 176