Another plane makes emergency belly landing

ANTALYA

A passenger plane on May 9 made an emergency belly landing after its front landing gear malfunctioned at an airport in the southern province of Antalya, a day after a similar incident in Istanbul.

A Boeing B737 aircraft operating the Cologne-Antalya-Gazipaşa flight was forced to make a belly landing shortly after its tire ruptured during touchdown around 11 a.m. on May 9, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in a written statement.

A total of 190 people, comprising 184 passengers and six crew members, were safely evacuated, the ministry stated, adding that no casualties were reported.

Preliminary assessments stated no runway damage, with air traffic authorities commencing an inquiry into the matter.

On May 8, the Istanbul Airport witnessed a belly landing as a cargo plane’s landing gear failed to deploy.

The pilots attributed the failure of the landing gear to a hydraulic malfunction, the ministry said.

The runway reopened after the plane was removed and once authorities confirmed that there were no issues impeding other planes from landing safely.