On Monday, a Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying 277 passengers and 11 staff members caught fire upon landing at the airport in Kathmandu, forcing the passengers to evacuate using emergency slides.
According to Gyanendra Bhul, a spokeswoman for Nepal’s civil aviation authority, a spark in the right landing gear caused the aircraft, which took off from Istanbul, to catch fire.
The airport’s sole runway was closed for about two hours in the morning due to the incident, but it has already been reopened.
While the runway was cleared, a number of incoming flights were placed on hold.
Our experts have started the aircraft’s technical examinations. The airline’s senior vice president, Yahya Ustun, stated on X that preliminary evaluations show that the smoke was caused by a mechanical issue in a hydraulic pipe.
Thick grey smoke can be seen rising from the plane’s right landing gear as it lands in the capital of Nepal in a video that has gone viral.
Passengers were immediately evacuated from the aircraft using emergency slides.
The country in the Himalayas is home to some of the most difficult and isolated runways in the world, surrounded by snow-capped hills and terrain that even skilled pilots find difficult.
While landing at the airport in Kathmandu today, a Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying 277 passengers and 11 crew members caught fire, although nobody was harmed.
According to Gyanendra Bhul, a spokeswoman for Nepal’s civil aviation authority, a spark in the right landing gear caused the aircraft, which took off from Istanbul, to catch fire.
The country in the Himalayas is home to some of the most difficult and isolated runways in the world, surrounded by snow-capped hills and terrain that even skilled pilots find challenging. “Everyone on board is safe, the rescue part is over.” We are currently looking into the incident,” Bhul said to AFP.
Last year, government authorities announced intentions to construct new radar and weather monitoring systems in response to a series of crashes and the European Union’s decision to blacklist all Nepalese airlines.
When a Turkish Airlines plane lands at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, one of its tires catches fire. Police have confirmed that all passengers have been evacuated and that the fire has been put out. pic.twitter.com/otRaugm1AY
As soon as the event occurred, passengers were evacuated from the aeroplane using emergency slides.
A Turkish Airlines plane carrying 224 people went off the runway in Kathmandu in 2015.
The event resulted in a four-day runway closure and the cancellation of numerous international flights, although the passengers were unharmed.
This is a tale of breaking news. More to come
