Passengers on a domestic Iranian flight got far more drama than they bargained for on September 15, when the Boeing 737 they were riding in lost a tire on takeoff and shed part of its cabin ceiling on the way back down. The Sepehran Airlines flight, which had left Mashhad Hashemi Nejad International Airport bound for Kermanshah, declared an emergency shortly after departing and returned to Mashhad.
Video filmed by travellers on board shows the jet shaking violently as it touched back down, with screaming audible in the cabin. As the aircraft rattled along the runway, ceiling panels came loose and dropped directly onto seated passengers. Miraculously, no one was hurt. Once the plane stopped, everyone on board was evacuated safely, and Mashhad airport closed the runway temporarily for inspection before reopening it hours later. Iran's Civil Aviation Organization has opened an investigation, though the airline itself has yet to comment publicly.
What happened mechanically is fairly easy to piece together. A burst or detached tire during the takeoff roll would have produced severe vibrations, and those vibrations can loosen the fasteners holding lightweight decorative trim in place. Ceiling panels are plastic and light by design, so once their fixings worked free, gravity did the rest.
The more uncomfortable context is the airline's fleet. Sepehran, founded in 2016 and based in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, operates 13 aircraft with an average age of over 30 years. Its active fleet consists mostly of Boeing 737-300s and 737-500s, airframes that date back as far as the early 1990s, plus a grounded Fairchild Dornier Do328. The carrier flies to 21 destinations across Iran and neighbouring Gulf countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Oman and the UAE, with hubs at Mashhad and both of Tehran's main airports.
Worryingly, this is the carrier's second serious incident in three weeks. On August 25, one of its 737-500s with 127 passengers on board veered off the runway while landing in Mashhad, skidding from runway 13L onto 13R with its nose gear collapsing. Everyone walked away from that one too, but investigators are once again involved. Sepehran has never had a fatal accident, yet sanctions on Iran make sourcing spare parts genuinely difficult, which complicates maintenance on an already elderly fleet. That combination — 30-year-old jets plus constrained access to parts — is exactly what aviation safety watchers will be scrutinising as both investigations proceed.
For travellers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: if you're booking regional flights within Iran, it's worth checking which airline and aircraft type you're on. Sepehran's routes are cheap and extensive, but recent events suggest its operations deserve a closer look than the fare alone. Anyone with flexibility may prefer carriers operating newer aircraft on the same corridors.