Airline News
Turkish crash strands 90,000 passengers
March 9th 2015
A ten-month-old Turkish Airlines A330-300 flying from Istanbul skidded off the runway and came to a stop in a grassy area with its nose on the ground and the cabin filled with smoke after landing at Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport (KTIA) on March 4. Read More » Officials said all 227 and 11 crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft although one passenger was “slightly injured” and taken to hospital. Following the incident, all international flights were cancelled at KTIA as the airport closed its single runway to remove the damaged aircraft. On request from Nepal, the Indian government dispatched a Hercules C-130 carrying aircraft removal equipment to Kathmandu to help clear the A330 off the runway. On Saturday, March 7, KTIA reopened for international flights and has been operating 24 hours a day to process the more than 90,000 passengers who had been stranded at the airport since the incident.
Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) has reported the Turkish Airlines crew had aborted its first approach to KTIA’s runway 02 at 07:11am local time because it could not see the runway as thick fog covered the airfield. The crew then positioned for a second approach to runway and at 07:43am touched down to the left off the runway. The tyres burst and the aircraft veered left and came to a stop with all gear on soft ground, and the nose gear collapsed, about 1,000 metres down the runway.
Turkish Airlines’ Twitter feed stated that TK726 “overshot the runway after landing”, adding “necessary precautions are being taken; after the technical investigation and this unfortunate incident will be determined and announced to public.” Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has opened an investigation and appointed an investigation committee. The A330 is expected to be written off.
