Turkish Airlines planes suffer tyre fire during landing in Nepal, all 278 passengers safely evacuated

KATHMANDU: A Turkish Airlines aircraft’s tyres caught fire while landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on early Monday morning. Police confirmed that all passengers and crew members were safely evacuated.

The flight en route from Istanbul to Kathmandu caught fire on the right tyres while landing, triggering the evacuation and rescue of all the passengers.

“The aircraft with call sign TK726 was en route to Kathmandu from Istanbul, and the tyre had caught fire while landing. Using the fire engine, it has been contained. All the passengers are safely evacuated,” SP Rajkumar Silawal from the airport security told ANI in a telephonic conversation.

Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-343 evacuated at Kathmandu Airport after a fire broke out in its landing gear upon arrival from Istanbul.

All 277 passengers ​and 11 crew ⁠arriving from Istanbul were evacuated using the ​emergency exits following the fire, and nobody ​was injured,… pic.twitter.com/VDMFgh3HaY

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As per the official, there were a total of 278 passengers and 11 crew members on the flight. The passengers also included some United Nations officials.

In a video circulating on social media, fire is seen on the right landing gear of the aircraft, sending a thick plume of grey smoke. Passengers on board the aircraft were evacuated using the emergency doors.

No official statement or announcement has been made by the airport or the airline company over the incident. Also, the reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained.

Turkish Airlines has been involved in similar incidents at Tribhuvan International Airport. In the year 2015, an aircraft of the company had skidded off the runway and veered onto the grassy shoulder after losing balance during landing. This had forced the airport to remain shut for four days.

Initial reports at the time suggested that a loss of situation awareness of the flight captain during the final approach resulted in the Airbus A330 missing the runway’s centre line.

The flight with the same call-sign TK726 from Istanbul was carrying 224 people when it ploughed into the grassland on the left side of the runway at Kathmandu’s fog-covered airport. No passengers were hurt during the incident, but all the passengers were evacuated through the emergency doors. (ANI)