TEHRAN -- An Iranian airliner overshot the runway and slammed into a perimeter wall killing 17 people in the second city of Mashhad on Friday in the country's second air disaster in 10 days, state media said."There was an accident and a fire involving a passenger plane from Tehran to Mashhad that has left 17 people dead and 19 injured," the official IRNA news agency reported, quoting the deputy governor of Khorasan province, Ghahreman Rashid.
Rashid identified the plane as a Russian-designed Ilyushin and said it carried 153 passengers. "All the dead and injured people and passengers have been evacuated and the fire has been completely controlled," Rashid said, according to IRNA.
| Russian design and Insh'allan maintenance ... |
| Either that, or somebody important but not well-liked was flying. |
| That's about half of Iran right now ... |
The Mehr news agency said the plane crashed through the airport's perimeter wall before hitting power lines and coming to a halt in adjacent farmland.
State television said that the accident occurred as the plane was landing at the international airport in Mashhad, a popular Shiite Muslim pilgrimage centre in northeastern Iran.
| I seem to recall rumours that Israel had some people working airplane maintenance in Iran... or perhaps the Mossad spy squirrels are running with the American spy squirrels now. I wouldn't put it past them -- squirrels are known for their delight in chewing on vehicle wiring. |