An Iran Air passenger Boeing 747 plane made an emergency landing at the Beijing International Airport shortly after take off yesterday.

Nobody was injured on the plane, which carried 149 passengers and 28 crew members. Most of the passengers are Chinese and Japanese.

It was not immediately clear how many of them continued their trip last night and how many will today.

The Iran Air flight IR 820 was reported to have stopped in transit in Beijing from Teheran en route to Tokyo.

Eight minutes after it took off at 9:12, the Boeing 747 reported problems on its hydraulic pressure system, so the air crew asked to return, sources from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, the nation's top civil aviation authority said.

The plane's landing gear broke down when it tried to land at the Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:33.

With its front body hitting the ground 1,500 metres from the starting point of the runway, the plane finally came to a halt after sliding 300 metres , without causing injuries, airline officials said.

CAAC's Vice-Director Liu Shaoyong arrived at the scene shortly after the accident.

At 2:05 pm yesterday, the east runway of the airport was reopened after the plane was pulled away.

The investigation was ongoing at press time yesterday, the CAAC said.

(China Daily 01/16/2004 page1)