Moments of fear at Kathmandu international airport, in Nepal, where a Turkish Airlines plane had a “small” problem during the landing phase. A spark in the right landing gear triggered a fire on board the aircraft, an Airbus A330, coming from Istanbul, Turkey, but thanks to the timely intervention of the rescue teams, none of the people involved were injured.
The fire during landing
As confirmed by Gyanendra Bhul, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, there were 277 passengers and 11 crew members on board the flight: “All occupants are safe and sound and the rescue operations have ended. The airport’s only runway remained closed for almost two hours following the accident. We are investigating the causes.”
The images on social media
The alarm, as mentioned, was triggered during the landing phase in Kathmandu. According to local authorities, the fire started from the right landing gear, and then spread to the areas near the wheels: the images posted on social media show smoke coming from one of the tyres, while the plane touches the ground and stops on the runway. A second film shows the evacuation operations from the aircraft, with passengers being taken off, in complete safety, through the emergency slides.
The precedents
A series of plane crashes, plus the European Union’s decision to blacklist all Nepalese airlines, prompted government officials last year to announce plans to install new radar and weather monitoring systems. In 2015, a Turkish Airlines plane with 224 passengers on board skidded off the runway in Kathmandu. The passengers were unharmed, but the accident caused the closure of the runway for four days and the cancellation of numerous international flights.