The tires of a Turkish Airlines plane caught fire while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu early Monday morning. Police have confirmed that all passengers and crew have been evacuated safely.
While landing from Istanbul to Kathmandu, the right tires of this flight caught fire, after which the work of evacuation and rescue of all the passengers was started.
“The plane with call sign TK726 was coming from Istanbul to Kathmandu, and its tire caught fire while landing. The fire has been brought under control with the help of fire engine. All the passengers have been evacuated safely,” Airport Security SP Rajkumar Silawal told ANI over phone. According to the official, there were a total of 278 passengers and 11 crew members on board this flight. Some United Nations officials were also among the passengers.
A video going viral on social media shows the plane’s right landing gear on fire, giving rise to a thick cloud of smoke. The passengers on board the plane were evacuated through emergency doors. No official statement or announcement has been made yet by the airport or airline company regarding this incident. Also, the reason behind the incident is not known yet.
Similar incidents have happened before with Turkish Airlines at Tribhuvan International Airport. In 2015, one of the company’s aircraft skidded off the runway and landed on a grassy bank due to loss of balance during landing. Due to this incident the airport had to be closed for four days.
Initial reports at the time suggested that the Airbus A330 had deviated from the center line of the runway due to the flight captain’s misjudgment during the final stages of landing. The flight, with the same call sign TK726, coming from Istanbul, was carrying 224 people when it touched down in a grassy field to the left of the runway at Kathmandu’s fog-shrouded airport. No passengers were injured in this incident, but all passengers were evacuated through emergency doors.