Cargo plane makes belly landing at Istanbul Airport

ISTANBUL

A cargo plane on May 8 made a belly landing at Istanbul Airport as its landing gear failed to deploy, with no casualties reported in the accident.

Upon arriving to Istanbul from France at around 8 a.m., the flight crew of a FedEx plane notified airport personnel of its malfunctioning front landing wheels.

Following the necessary precautions taken by the airport, the aircraft performed a belly landing with its front landing gear retracted, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.

The pilots attributed the failure of the landing gear to a hydraulic malfunction, the ministry said, adding that aviation experts have been assigned to investigate the incident.

Speaking to private broadcaster CNN Türk, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu informed that the two pilots were safely evacuated from the aircraft.

The runway will be reopened after the plane is removed and it is confirmed that there are no problems that would prevent other planes from landing, he said.

"Colleagues are referring to a mechanical malfunction. An investigation will be conducted. At least, the deployment of the rear wheels is crucial. The plane made a landing without causing any problems. We have three other runways, so there was no significant issue,” the minister disclosed.