KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Turkish Airlines plane carrying 277 passengers and 11 crew members caught fire while landing at Kathmandu airport on Monday, but all 288 people aboard escaped without injury, officials said.
The flight from Istanbul ignited after a spark in the right landing gear, according to Gyanendra Bhul, spokesman for Nepal’s civil aviation authority.
“All aboard are safe; the rescue part is over. We are now investigating the accident,” Bhul told AFP.
Runway Closure Disrupts Operations
The incident forced the closure of the airport’s only runway for nearly two hours on Monday morning. Operations have since resumed, Bhul said.
Challenging Terrain
Nepal is home to some of the world’s most remote and difficult runways, flanked by snow-capped peaks and rugged terrain that test even experienced pilots.
A series of crashes and the European Union’s blacklisting of all Nepalese airlines prompted government officials last year to announce plans to install new radar and weather monitoring systems.
Previous Turkish Airlines Incident
In 2015, a Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying 224 passengers skidded off the runway in Kathmandu.
No one was injured, but the accident closed the runway for four days and caused the cancellation of numerous international flights.
