Turkish Airlines Jet Catches Fire While Landing; All Safe
Kathmandu: A Turkish Airlines jet caught fire while landing at Nepal’s main airport on Monday, causing no injuries but causing the airport to be closed.
The plane, which took off from Istanbul, landed at Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport with fire and smoke in the right landing gear. According to airport officials, the emergency team intervened and brought the fire under control and the passengers were evacuated safely.
The airport was closed on Monday morning.
There were 277 passengers on the Airbus 330 jet.
Many planes bound for Kathmandu were put on hold while officials tried to investigate and open the single runway at the airport.
Nepal is subject to relatively frequent plane crashes because its mountainous terrain and variable weather conditions make flying conditions difficult.
In 2015, a Turkish Airlines jet that landed in Kathmandu under heavy fog skidded off the slippery runway and closed the airport for several days.
No injuries were reported and the aircraft was later withdrawn from the airport and turned into a museum.
