Dramatic footage shows cargo plane’s emergency landing at Istanbul airport caught on camera
PTC News Desk: A gripping scene unfolded at Istanbul Airport as a cargo aircraft executed an emergency landing after experiencing a malfunction with its front landing gear. The Boeing 767, operated by FedEx Express, was captured in a video circulating on social media, utilizing its rear landing gear before gently lowering its nose with the front part of the fuselage.
The aircraft was completing its journey from Paris to Istanbul when the pilots discovered that the front landing gear had failed to deploy, according to reports from the state-run Anadolu Agency.
A Boeing 767 freighter has landed at Istanbul Airport with an unreleased front landing gear strut. The plane, belonging to the US postal company Fedex, was on a flight from Paris. pic.twitter.com/GY3DawgiBP
— Mikhail Kulakov (@mikkulakov) May 8, 2024
Fortunately, there were no injuries reported, and the crew successfully evacuated the aircraft, as confirmed by Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey’s transportation and infrastructure minister. The runway where the emergency landing occurred was temporarily closed as authorities worked to remove the aircraft.
IGA, the operator of Istanbul Airport, commended the swift response of the İGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting team (ARFF), stating, “The accident was brought 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.”
Efforts are underway to relocate the aircraft to a secure area and reopen the runway for flight operations, with IGA confirming that other runways, including spare ones, remain operational for smooth air traffic flow.
This incident comes just a week after another aviation scare, where an emergency slide detached from a Delta flight shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport. Interestingly, the detached slide was found near the beach house of a lawyer involved in litigation against Boeing over safety concerns.