KATHMANDU: A Turkish Airlines plane caught fire while landing at Nepal’s main airport on Monday, causing no injuries but forcing the airport to close.
The flight from Istanbul landed at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport with fire and smoke in the landing gear. Emergency crews responded and brought the fire under control and passengers were safely evacuated, according to airport officials.
The airport was closed on Monday morning.
There were 277 passengers on board the Airbus 330.
Several Kathmandu-bound planes were put on hold as officials investigated and tried to clear the airport’s only available runway.
Nepal experiences relatively frequent plane crashes as the mountainous terrain and changeable weather make flying conditions difficult.
In 2015, a Turkish Airlines plane that landed in dense fog in Kathmandu skidded off a slippery runway, closing the airport for several days.
No injuries were reported and the plane was later towed from the airport and turned into a museum.
