Turkish Airline flight with 288 people on board catches fire after landing

A Turkish Airlines jet caught fire while landing at Nepal’s main airport, forcing the airport to shut down.

The flight from Istanbul with 277 passengers landed at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, with fire and smoke billowing from the right-side landing gear.

Emergency crews responded to control the fire on the Airbus 330, and passengers were safely evacuated, according to airport officials.

Several planes bound for Kathmandu were put on hold while officials investigated and attempted to clear the only runway at the airport.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the fire broke out in the right rear tyre of the Airbus.

‘Technical inspections of the aircraft have been initiated by our teams. Initial ​assessments indicate ​that ⁠the smoke was caused by a technical malfunction in a hydraulic ​pipe,’ Yahya Ustun, the airline’s ​senior ⁠vice president of communications said.

Another flight has been planned for the return of passengers to their destinations.

Nepal has relatively frequent plane crashes due to its mountainous terrain and variable weather, which make flying conditions difficult.

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.

In 2023, an aeroplane carrying 72 people crashed near an airport in central Nepal.

The domestic Yeti Airlines flight from Kathmandu caught on fire moments before crashing.

It was described as the Himalayan country’s worst air incident in almost five years.