Thursday 1 December 2011

Iran Air: shackled by sanctions


Full article in JPG format

In October, one of Iran Air’s 40 year-old Boeing 727s was filmed making an emergency landing at Tehran Mehrabad Airport. Banned from European Union (EU) airspace, the plane was on a return flight from Moscow when its front landing gear failed to deploy. After skidding to a halt on the runway, all 113 people on board were safely evacuated and the flag carrier vowed to repair its geriatric jet.

Sadly for Iranians, incidents such as this are hardly rare. More than 700 nationals have died in 13 crashes over the past six years, including 77 in January when another of Iran Air’s 727s crashed while trying to land in the north-western city of Urumiyeh...