For the third time in three weeks, an Iranian passenger plane experienced an emergency in flight today, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed.
From Press TV:
Soon after taking off from Ahvaz International Airport in southwestern Iran at 09:40 local time (0510 GMT), the Boeing 707 suffered a fault in one its four engines, reported the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).
This comes following two other recent plane crashes, the first on July 15 which killed 168, and the second on July 25 which killed at least 16.
Unfortunately, these sorts of accidents are not uncommon in Iran. And each time another decades-old plane crashes, it reignites the discussion over what responsibility American sanctions play in the abysmal safety record of Iran’s civilian air industry. For those of us who have followed the sanctions issue for some time, it comes as no surprise that thirty-year-old Boeing 707’s wanting for spare parts have trouble making it to their destination.