Tehran: An Iranian military jet today crashed at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, the city's main domestic air hub, forcing the two pilots to eject and causing a fire to break out, emergency services said.

The Russian-made Sukhoi jet crashed on landing at the airport in southwestern Tehran while on a training mission. The fire brigade rushed to the scene after being alerted by the public.

"As soon as the plane hit the ground it went off the runway tarmac and caught fire," Behrouz Tashakor, the spokesman for the Tehran fire brigade, told the official IRNA news agency.

"The fire was completely put out within 10 minutes.

"The pilot and the co-pilot of the training fighter plane that caught fire are safe," he said. There were no reports of any casualties.

The Fars news agency said the plane crashed because of a technical fault and that the pilot and co-pilot managed to eject safely.

Mehrabad airport was previously used for international civilian flights to and from Tehran but is now employed almost exclusively for domestic travel after international services moved to a new airport outside Tehran in 2007.

The facility is also used by the Iranian military.

Source : PTI