The airport in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu was put on alert today (Monday) after a fire broke out in one of the tires of a Turkish Airlines plane landing from Istanbul, with the airport closed for about an hour as a precautionary measure.
Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that all 277 passengers on the plane, including 11 crew members, were safely evacuated through the emergency exits and no one was injured.
Official spokesperson Gyanendra Ball said a fire broke out in the right rear tire of the Airbus A330 after it landed at Kathmandu International Airport, noting that firefighting teams were able to quickly extinguish the fire before towing the plane to a side aisle inside the airport and temporarily suspending operations.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines said it confirmed that smoke was emitted from the landing gear system while the aircraft was moving within the airport grounds and has launched a technical investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
Yahya Uston, the company’s vice president for communications, said initial assessments indicate the smoke was caused by a technical defect in one of the plane’s hydraulic pipes.
The company added that after temporarily suspending the damaged plane to carry out the necessary technical inspections, additional flights were arranged to bring the passengers home and continue their journey.
The airport in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu was put on alert today (Monday) after a fire broke out in one of the tires of a Turkish Airlines plane landing from Istanbul, with the airport closed for about an hour as a precautionary measure.
Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority said all 277 passengers, including 11 crew members, were safely evacuated through emergency exits and no injuries were reported.
Authorities spokesperson Gyanendra Bhulle said a fire broke out in the right rear tire of the Airbus A330 after it landed at Kathmandu International Airport, noting that fire teams were able to quickly bring the flames under control before towing the plane to a side taxiway inside the airport and temporarily halting it.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines confirmed that smoke was observed rising from the landing gear system while the plane was moving on the ground at the airport, and said it had launched a technical investigation to determine the cause of the accident.
Yahya Oston, the company’s vice president for communications, said that initial assessment was that the smoke was caused by a technical failure in one of the aircraft’s hydraulic pipes.
The airline added that after suspending the affected aircraft for necessary technical inspections, it repatriated the passengers and arranged additional flights to continue their journey.
