Turkish Airlines jet catches fire while landing at Nepal’s main airport; all passengers safe

A Turkish Airlines Airbus A330 caught fire on landing at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport, forcing a temporary shutdown. All 277 passengers were safely evacuated without injuries as emergency crews controlled the blaze and authorities investigated the runway incident

Kathmandu: A Turkish Airlines jet caught fire while landing at Nepal’s main airport on Monday, causing no reported injuries but forcing the airport to shut down.

The flight from Istanbul landed at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport with fire and smoke on the right landing gear. Emergency crew responded and controlled the fire and passengers were safely evacuated, according to airport officials.

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The airport was shut down on Monday morning.

There were 277 passengers on board the Airbus 330 jet.

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

Nepal experiences relatively frequent plane crashes as its mountainous terrain and variable weather 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.