What happened
On January 27, 2020, Caspian Airlines flight 6936, an MD83 registered EP-CPZ, departed from Mehrabad International Airport. After climbing to a cruising altitude of FL320, the aircraft was directed by air traffic control to fly via position GODMO to accommodate other departing traffic. During the descent phase, the crew communicated with Mahshahr AFISO, eventually requesting and receiving clearance for a VOR/DME approach to runway 13.
The aircraft touched down on runway 13 at approximately 04:06 UTC. After traveling roughly two-thirds of the runway length, the aircraft ran off the end of the pavement in Khuzestan province. The impact caused the nose and main landing gear struts to break, bringing the cabin floor very close to the ground surface. Although the main door was opened for an emergency evacuation, the emergency slides failed to deploy automatically. Despite the circumstances, all 136 passengers and 8 crew members successfully evacuated the aircraft without any reported fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several critical errors by the flight crew as primary contributors to the overrun. The investigation concluded that the pilot's failure to execute a go-around during an unstabilized approach was a central cause. Specific issues included poor decision-making regarding high-speed landing risks, inadequate Crew Resource Management (CRM), and an unstable approach profile.
Several contributing factors further complicated the landing:
- The aircraft was carrying 5 tons of extra fuel, which increased the required stopping distance.
- The crew elected to land on runway 13 despite encountering a tailwind.
- The pilot monitoring failed to take control or initiate necessary corrective actions during the approach.