A state of emergency unfolded at Kathmandu airport in Nepal on Monday after a minor fire broke out on a Turkish Airlines aircraft shortly after landing from Istanbul, temporarily shutting down airport operations for nearly an hour.
According to Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority, all 277 passengers and 11 crew members aboard the aircraft were safely evacuated through emergency exits without any reported injuries.
Authorities stated that the fire erupted in the right rear wheel area of the Airbus A330 shortly after touchdown before emergency teams quickly extinguished the flames and moved the aircraft away from active operations.
Turkish Airlines later confirmed that smoke had emerged from the landing gear area while the aircraft was taxiing slowly on the runway, adding that a technical inspection had been launched to determine the exact cause of the incident.
Yahya Ustun, the airline’s vice president and head of media relations, said preliminary assessments pointed to a technical malfunction involving a hydraulic pipe as the likely source of the smoke and limited fire.
The airline also confirmed that an alternative aircraft had been arranged to continue transporting passengers to their destination.
The incident caused moments of fear among passengers after smoke became visible immediately following landing, although emergency crews managed to contain the situation quickly with no casualties reported.
