INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A plane carrying 136 passengers has skidded off the runway and onto a nearby street in the Iranian city of Mahshahr.Two people were injured
in the hard landing of the Caspian Airways McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft, according to officials.The flight had flown around 380 miles
(611km) from the Iranian capital of Tehran to Mahshahr before its hard landing.Image:The plane landed on a road near the airportShocked
passengers, along with their hand luggage, left the aircraft via doors near the cockpit and over the wing.A flight attendant can also be
seen shouting towards passengers to walk calmly away from the aircraft.Speaking in Farsi, a passenger is heard saying: "We crashed
We crashed but we are unhurt
My hand is shaking."Iranian authorities said that there were 136 passengers on board with eight crew members, and the airport's director
said that everyone had been taken off the plane safely.Images from the landing site show that a disaster was narrowly averted, with the
plane stopping close to a populated area, just beyond the airport's runway.As yet, there is no reason given for the jet failing to land on
the runway.Image:Everyone made it off the plane safelyThe plane involved in the crash, with the marker EP-CPZ, appears to be more than 25
years old, and had previously flown for airlines in France, Canada, the US, Colombia, Burkina Faso and Ukraine before being registered to
the Iranian company.Under US sanctions, Iran has struggled to obtain certain parts for its ageing fleets of aircraft, after manufacturers
Boeing and Airbus backed away from the country due to pressure from the White House.
