On the 6th of October, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 was forced to carry out an emergency evacuation after its main landing gear overheated and caught fire at Antakya-Hatay Airport.
The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 with registration TC-JVN was performing flight TK2256 from Istanbul to Antakya with 104 passengers and 6 crew members onboard. However, upon landing at Antakya-Hatay Airport’s runway 04, all 4 main tyres burst. As a result, the aircraft came to a stop with the overheated landing gear.
Passengers evacuated the aircraft via slides and emergency services cooled the landing gear. The airport reported that the tyres exploded and caught fire on landing. The aircraft stopped about 2000 meters/6560 feet down the runway. Footage shared on the internet showed the passengers guided by personnel on the ground as they disembarked the plane via an inflatable slide.
The airline’s press office released a statement stating that no one was injured during the evacuation. Following the incident, the return flight and all Turkish Airlines flights to Hatay were cancelled.
“The tire of our plane blew during the landing of flight TK2256 between Istanbul (IST) – Hatay (HTY). Due to this explosion, overheating occurred in one of the landing gear of the plane, and the firefighters quickly intervened in the post-landing situation and provided cooling,” said the statement released by THY Press Office.
“Our guests and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft. There is no problem with their health status. It is announced to the public with respect.”
THY Press Office
The airport authorities announced that officials were working to remove the aircraft from the runway and that Hatay airport was closed to flights until midnight on Thursday. As reported by the Aviation Herald, the aircraft had been dispatched with the Anti-Skid System inoperative.
Feature Image via Twitter (@herdem_aviation)