Turkish Airlines Plane Catches Fire While Landing at TIA Prompting Airport Closure for Nearly Two Hours

A Turkish Airlines flight arriving from Istanbul caught fire on its tyre while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport early on Monday morning, prompting a temporary closure of the runway, the state-run national news agency RSS reported.

According to Superintendent of Police Rajkumar Silwal of the Airport Security Office, flight TK726 encountered the incident during landing.

“The tyre caught fire as the aircraft touched down. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, and the situation is now under control,” he told RSS.

The aircraft was carrying 273 passengers and 11 crew members. All passengers were safely evacuated through emergency exits, and technical inspections were immediately initiated.

Spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Gyanendra Bhul, told AFP that the flight caught fire after there was a spark in the right landing gear.

“All aboard are safe, the rescue part is over. We are now investigating the accident,” AFP quoted Bhul as saying.

The airport’s General Manager Tek Nath Sitoula stated that operations were suspended from 6:45 a.m. and resumed at around 8:30 a.m., after safety checks were completed. “Air India landed at 8:30 a.m., followed by Fly Dubai at 8:35 a.m. Several flights have since taken off as well,” he confirmed.

The runway closure lasted almost two hours. Authorities have assured that the situation is normal and investigations are underway to determine the cause of the fire.

According to AFP, a string of crashes as well as the European Union’s decision to blacklist all Nepalese airlines prompted government officials last year to announce plans to install new radar and weather monitoring systems.

In 2015, a Turkish Airline aircraft with 224 passengers skidded off the Katmandu runway. The passengers were unhurt but the accident led to a runway closure for four days and saw scores of international flights canceled, AFP further reported. – With inputs from AFP/RSS

Note: This news has been updated to include reports published by AFP.