Caspian Airlines Flight 6936
{{Short description|2020 runway excursion in Iran}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name = Caspian Airlines Flight 6936
| image = Caspian Airlines Airplane 2020 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = EP-CPZ lying in the road after overrunning the runway
| occurrence_type = Accident
| date = {{start date|2020|01|27|df=y}}
| summary = Runway excursion after an unstabilized approach
| site = Mahshahr Airport, Iran
| coordinates = {{Coord|30|32|46|N|49|9|47|E|type:event|display=inline,title}}
| ground_fatalities =
| plane1_image = Caspian Airlines EP-CPZ approaching Tehran Mehrabad International Airport, 2017.jpg
| plane1_caption = EP-CPZ, the aircraft involved in the accident, in June 2017
| aircraft_type = McDonnell Douglas MD-83
| aircraft_name =
| operator = Caspian Airlines
| IATA = IV6936
| ICAO = CPN6936
| callsign = CASPIAN 6936
| tail_number = EP-CPZ
| origin = Tehran Airport, Iran
| destination = Mahshahr Airport
| occupants = 144
| passengers = 135
| crew = 9
| fatalities = 0
| injuries = 2
| survivors = 144
}}
On 27 January 2020, Caspian Airlines Flight 6936 overran the runway on landing at Mahshahr Airport, Iran, on a domestic flight from Tehran. All 144 people on board survived, but two occupants were injured.{{Cite web |title=EP-CPZ Final Report |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/reports/2020/20200127_MD83_EP-CPZ.pdf |access-date=24 January 2025 |website=asn.flightsafety.org}}{{Reference page|page=10}}
Accident
Flight 6936 departed from Tehran at 06:35 local time (02:05 UTC) and landed at Mahshahr Airport at 07:50.{{cite web |url=https://en.mehrnews.com/news/154989/Plane-skids-off-runway-in-SW-Iran-no-injuries |title=Plane skids off runway in SW Iran, no injuries |date=27 January 2020 |publisher=Mehr News |accessdate=27 January 2020}}
The aircraft overran the runway on landing, ending up on the Mahshahr-Sarbandar Expressway, {{convert|170|m|ft}} past the end of the runway
All 144 people on board, including 135 passengers, survived with only two injuries. The aircraft's landing gear collapsed during the overrun.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/iranian-passenger-plane-slides-off-runway-into-highway-passengers-safe-idUSKBN1ZQ0TR/ |title=Iranian passenger plane slides off runway into highway, passengers safe |date=27 January 2020 |agency=Reuters |accessdate=27 January 2020}}{{cite web |url=http://avherald.com/h?article=4d281d22&opt=0 |title=Accident: Caspian MD83 at Mahshahr on Jan 27th 2020, overran runway on landing |first=Simon |last=Hradecky |work=Aviation Herald|accessdate=27 January 2020}}
Although there were only two injuries, the aircraft received such substantial damage that the Accident Investigation Board assessed the aircraft as destroyed.{{Cite web |title=Accident: Caspian MD83 at Mahshahr on Jan 27th 2020, overran runway on landing |url=https://avherald.com/h?article=4d281d22&opt=0 |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=avherald.com}}
A witness said that the aircraft's undercarriage did not appear to be fully down as it came in to land.{{cite news |date=27 January 2020 |title=Iranian aircraft slides onto highway after pilot 'misses' runway |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51261549 |accessdate=27 January 2020 |work=BBC News}} The head of Khuzestan province's aviation authority stated that the aircraft landed long on the runway, causing the overrun.
Aircraft and crew
The accident aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83,{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/iran-airliner-overshoots-runway-stops-highway-075829429.html |title=Iran airliner overshoots runway, stops in highway |publisher=Agence France Pressé via Yahoo News |accessdate=27 January 2020}} registration EP-CPZ, msn 53464.{{Cite web |title=Accident McDonnell Douglas MD-83 EP-CPZ, Monday 27 January 2020 |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/319250 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=Aviation Safety Network}}
The captain was a 64-year-old man, who had joined Caspian in 2019, having previously flown for Kish Air and the Iranian Navy. He had 18,430 flight hours, including 7,840 hours on the MD-80. The first officer was a 28-year-old man, who had logged 300 flight hours, with 124 of them on the MD-80.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=1 September 2020 |title=Final report of the accident investigation at Mahshahr Airport |url=https://caa.gov.ir/Portals/0/BusinessEngine/SubmitEntity/d755a0d5-f455-4b98-bc02-a7a1aa88b7a4.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108012751/https://caa.gov.ir/Portals/0/BusinessEngine/SubmitEntity/d755a0d5-f455-4b98-bc02-a7a1aa88b7a4.pdf |archive-date=8 January 2022 |access-date=10 September 2020 |website= |publisher=Iran Civil Aviation Organization}}{{Rp|10}}
Investigation
The accident was investigated by Iran Civil Aviation Organization. On the final report released on 1 September 2020, it was established that the accident was caused by an unstabilized approach that lead to a runway overrun, all of which occurred due to crew errors which are poor decision making about the risk of high-speed landings, poor crew resource management (CRM) and incorrect judgement in not making an appropriate Go-around while perform the unstabilized approach. Three more contributory factors are also discovered by the report which are the decision to load five extra tons of fuel which increased the required landing distance, the decision by the pilots to make the landing on runway 13 despite the tailwind and the inability of the copilot (Pilot Monitoring) to take control of the aircraft and make proper action to execute the Go-around.
Aftermath
File:Caspian Airlines Airplane 2020 (2).jpg
After the results of the investigation were released, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of Iran issued some recommendations, three to the Iran Civil Aviation Organization which are intended to provide guidance and mandate additional training for pilots and dispatchers of all operators regarding various internal aspects and to improve the situation of certain airports, four to Caspian Airlines that are focused to improve some systems to assist pilots and one each to Mahshahr Airport where it says to follow the CAO. IRI aerodrome requirements for air navigation services (ANS), check if there are any obstacles in the airport infrastructures and review their instrument approach procedures and the other one recommendation to the Iran Airports and Air Navigation Company (IAC) to provide training guidelines for air traffic service (ATS) personnel about the agreed coordination between ATS units that are involved.
References
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{{Commons category}}
{{McDonnell Douglas DC-9 family}}
{{aviation accidents and incidents in 2020}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Iran}}
Category:2020 disasters in Iran
Category:Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2020
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Iran
Category:Caspian Airlines accidents and incidents
Category:History of Khuzestan province
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving runway overruns