A Turkish Airlines jet caught fire while landing at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal on Monday, with fire and smoke engulfing its right landing gear.
Although the incident caused no reported injuries, it did force the airport to shut down.
According to the Associated Press and local media reports, the Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul landed at Kathmandu’s main airport with fire and smoke on the right landing gear. Emergency crew responded and controlled the fire, and passengers were safely evacuated, airport officials quoted by the media said.
According to the Kathmandu Post, the incident occurred as a tyre on the right landing gear of the jet burst as the plane landed. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. Watch it here:
The airport was shut down on Monday morning. At the time of the incident, there were 277 passengers on board the jet, which is said to be an Airbus A330.
Several planes bound for Kathmandu were put on hold while officials were investigating and attempting to clear the only runway available at the airport.
An investigation into the incident has begun. Authorities are looking into what caused the tyre to burst and how the fire started.
Turkish Airlines’ previous tryst with Nepal airport
Nepal experiences relatively frequent plane crashes due to its mountainous terrain and variable weather, which make flying conditions difficult in the Himalayan country.
In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet landing in dense fog in Kathmandu skidded off a slippery runway, shutting down the airport for several days. No injuries were reported, and the plane was later towed out of the airport and converted into a museum.
