Sunday, May 19

Cargo Plane Makes Emergency Landing Without Front Landing Gear At Istanbul

Edited by Fazal Rahman Chembulangad

In a terrifying moment, a Boeing 767 aircraft flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, landed at Istanbul Airport without the airline’s front landing gear. The front landing gear was not deployed due to its failure, but the Cargo flight managed to stay on the runway without casualties. 

Announcing the incident, the Turkish Transport Ministry said that there were no casualties. The airline reportedly informed the traffic control tower at Istanbul Airport that its landing gear failed to open. The plane then landed with guidance from the tower, the ministry stated. 

The video viral on social media shows the smoke spreading around the aircraft as the front end of the plane dragged hard along the runway. The smokes were soon drenched with firefighting foam.

The airport authority has temporarily closed the runway where the plane landed without front gear, and the traffic on the other runways is continuing. Boeing has not made any immediate comment on the incident. 

Notably, amid increasing pressure from airlines, regulators and investors, the airline Boeing had decided to reshuffle its management this year. The airline has been struggling with issues since the January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane.

The mid-air blowout had led to India’s aviation safety watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issuing directives to Indian operators to conduct a one-time inspection of emergency exits on all of their Boeing 737 MAX-8 aircraft. The United States announced a criminal investigation into the incident.