A Turkish Airlines passenger aircraft carrying 288 people caught fire shortly after landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Monday, prompting an emergency evacuation of all passengers and crew.
Authorities said the flight, which arrived from Istanbul, experienced a technical issue shortly after touchdown, leading to smoke and flames from the aircraft’s landing gear area.
A spokesperson for Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that all 277 passengers and 11 crew members onboard were safely evacuated using emergency inflatable slides.
“All aboard are safe, the rescue part is over. We are now investigating the accident,” the spokesperson said.
The incident forced the temporary closure of the airport’s only runway for nearly two hours, disrupting flight operations and causing several incoming flights to be suspended while safety officials inspected and cleared the runway.
Turkish Airlines, in a statement, said preliminary findings suggested the smoke was linked to a technical fault.
“Technical inspections of the aircraft have been initiated by our teams,” the airline said.
“Initial assessments indicate that the smoke was caused by a technical malfunction in a hydraulic pipe.”
Images from the scene showed emergency slides deployed from the aircraft as passengers evacuated, while airport firefighters worked to douse the flames.
Smoke was reportedly seen rising from the plane’s right rear tyre area after landing before emergency responders contained the fire.
The aircraft was later towed safely to the airport’s taxiway after the fire was extinguished.
Airport operations have since resumed following clearance from safety authorities.
