IRANIAN PASSENGER JET’S WHEEL CATCHES FIRE
Wikinews
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A similar aircraft with Austrian ArrowsA wheel on an Aseman Airlines
Fokker 100 regional jet caught fire late on Tuesday night after
landing in Isfahan, Iran following a flight from Tehran.
It is unclear if the aircraft landed normally or experienced a hard
landing, with accounts conflicting. It is known that after landing
the crew noticed that the brake temperature in one of the wheels was
unusually high as they left the runway, and requested that fire crews
responded before the passengers disembarked.
When emergency services arrived they discovered that the wheel was
alight, and the fire was extuinguished. The plane then proceded
to the ramp, and the passengers left the jet as normal. The plane
subsequently departed as scheduled the following morning.
Air accidents are common in Iran, which has an ageing fleet that is
poorly maintained both for civil and military operations. International
sanctions have meant that new aircraft cannot be purchased. Earlier
this week, a police helicopter crash killed three people and wounded
three more. Last month Iran saw its worst air disaster in years when
an airliner heading to Armenia crashed, killing the 168 on board. The
same month saw another airliner overrun a runway at Mashhad and strike
a wall, killing seventeen.