A Sepehran Airlines Boeing 737 flying from Mashhad to Kermanshah, Iran, was forced to return to Mashhad shortly after take-off on September 15 after the pilot reported an engine emergency.
Officials said the aircraft had lost the tread from one of its landing-gear tyres during take-off; contrary to some early reports, Hassan Jafari of the Razavi Khorasan Airports Authority said it was not a tyre burst.
As the aircraft experienced severe vibrations, parts of the cabin ceiling lining and overhead compartments came loose, with footage released by Iranian news agency Akharin Khabar showing panels falling inside the cabin and passengers reacting in panic.
The Boeing 737 landed safely at Mashhad’s Shahid Hasheminejad Airport, with passengers and crew reported safe and no injuries. Passengers were later placed on an alternative flight to Kermanshah, while the exact technical cause is being investigated.
Violent Shaking Inside Cabin
The flight had reportedly been delayed twice before eventually departing Mashhad at around 5:39 pm local time. Shortly after take-off, the aircraft developed a technical problem.
Jafari said the tread on one of the tyres had separated as the aircraft lifted from the runway, after which the pilot informed air traffic control that there was an emergency involving the engine and requested to return to Mashhad. He stressed that the exact cause would be determined by specialists from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation.
Videos from inside the aircraft show the severity of the situation. The cabin can be seen shaking violently, while overhead bins open and passengers’ belongings fall into the aisle and seats. In footage released by Akharin Khabar, sections of the ceiling lining appear to detach and fall towards passengers, exposing components beneath the interior panels.
Passengers can be heard shouting and reacting with fear as the aircraft prepares for the emergency landing. The same footage was circulated widely on social media, including by aviation-focused accounts. However, videos circulating online do not independently establish whether the tyre-related event directly caused the reported engine problem.
What Happened Before Landing?
Although several international reports initially described the incident as a tyre burst, the statement attributed to Jafari provides a different account. He said the outer tread had come off one of the aircraft’s tyres, rather than the tyre itself bursting.
Reports have suggested that the tyre-related event may have contributed to damage around an engine and the severe vibrations experienced during the return flight, but Iranian officials have not publicly established that sequence as the final cause.
The emergency nevertheless ended without reported casualties. The aircraft returned to Mashhad and landed safely, after which passengers disembarked and were transferred to another flight to Kermanshah. The airport runway was temporarily closed for assessment, but Jafari later said both runways were open and flights were operating normally.
The dramatic footage has also prompted an important distinction: descriptions of the incident as the aircraft’s “roof collapsing” can be misleading. The available video shows sections of the cabin’s interior lining and fittings becoming detached, rather than establishing that the aircraft’s primary fuselage or roof structure failed. Further technical examination will be needed to determine precisely why the interior components came loose.
A Second Sepehran Incident
The latest emergency comes only weeks after another serious incident involving a Sepehran Airlines Boeing 737 at the same airport. On August 25, Boeing 737-500 EP-FSF, operating flight IS-4310 from Tehran Mehrabad to Mashhad, veered off the runway while landing and came to a stop with its nose landing gear collapsed.
There were 127 people on board, according to aviation incident databases, and no injuries were reported. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation opened an investigation into that occurrence. The earlier aircraft was a Boeing 737-500, while the type of the aircraft involved in the September 15 incident has been reported simply as a Boeing 737 in the official local accounts available so far.
The two incidents are separate, and there is currently no publicly established evidence linking their causes. Aviation specialists and Iranian authorities will need to complete their respective investigations before any broader conclusion about the airline’s operations or maintenance can be drawn.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
For passengers, few experiences can be more frightening than watching parts of an aircraft’s cabin come loose while the plane is still in the air. The safe return of this Boeing 737 is therefore significant, but so is the need for a transparent investigation into what happened.
Aviation safety depends not only on pilots responding effectively to emergencies, but also on rigorous maintenance, timely reporting and clear communication when technical failures occur. At the same time, unverified claims circulating alongside dramatic footage can create unnecessary fear and confusion.
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