On Monday, a Turkish Airlines plane emitted smoke from its landing gear after landing in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. The passengers on board were subsequently evacuated safely. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the incident.
The airline reported that the airport was reopened after being closed for over an hour.
According to Reuters, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) stated that a fire broke out in the right rear wheel of the Airbus A330 aircraft, but the fire was extinguished as the plane entered the taxiway.
Both the Nepalese aviation regulatory authority and the airline confirmed that all 277 passengers and 11 crew members on board were safely evacuated through emergency exits, with no injuries reported.
Yahya Ustun, Senior Vice President of Communication Affairs at the airline, posted on the social media platform X, saying: “Our team has conducted a technical inspection of the aircraft. The initial assessment indicates that the smoke was caused by a technical failure in the hydraulic pipeline.”
As a Himalayan country, Nepal has runways with extremely high landing difficulty, posing a challenge even for experienced pilots.
Due to frequent accidents and the decision by the European Union to blacklist all Nepalese airlines, the Nepalese government announced plans last year to install new radar and weather monitoring systems.