Featured Image Credit: @AviationSafety/X
A cargo flight from Paris to Istanbul made a dramatic landing at the Turkish airport this morning after its front landing gear failed to deploy properly.
Video from the scene shows the plane descending with all of its landing wheels visible, but the front set isn't locked into position and doesn't seem to do much when the plane touches down on the runway.
The pilot reportedly notified local air traffic controllers that they were having the problem, so the runway was clear and safe to land on, and on its second attempt the plane made an emergency landing.
As it landed, the plane was forced to let its nose slide along the ground, sending up showers of sparks and smoke from the friction, but it appears to have avoided any worse damage.
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FedEx Express flight #FX6238, a Boeing 767-3S2F, performed a nosegear-up landing on runway 16R at Istanbul-Atatürk Airport (ISL).pic.twitter.com/9ZguKMIuvF
— Aviation Safety Network (ASN) (@AviationSafety) May 8, 2024
When it came to a halt, fire engines were instantly on the scene to spray it down and make even more sure that it was safe.
According to Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey’s transportation and infrastructure minister, no one was injured, and the whole crew was evacuated safely.
He said the runway was closed after the landing, and the plane was being moved off it carefully, while there would also have to be clearance of any debris before the runway could be used again.
The FedEx-branded plane was a Boeing 767, making this the latest incident in a tricky few months for Boeing. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened an investigation into the company after reports that inspection records were falsified on certain 787 planes - Boeing said its engineers have determined that misconduct did not create “an immediate safety of flight issue”.
Plus, Boeing has had to delay its first astronaut launch until late next week, to replace a bad valve in the rocket.
According to Metro, Istanbul Airport operator IGA said of the incident with the plane: "The accident was taken under control without any loss of life with the immediate intervention of the İGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting team (ARFF), which was ready on the runway before the controlled landing on the fuselage."
"IGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and ARFF continues its efforts to move the aircraft to a safe area and open the runway to flight traffic. Flight traffic and operations continue smoothly on all other runways, including the spare runways."
It looks like the pilots deserve real praise in this case, for managing an emergency landing in such a challenging situation without causing any injuries to their crew - not everyone is so lucky when a plane has a mechanical failure.
