A Corendon Airlines Boeing 737 plane’s front tire burst upon landing at an airport in southern Turkey on Thursday (May 9), the Turkish transport minister said, adding there were no casualties and all 190 passengers and crew were evacuated.
The front landing gear strut was damaged on the Corendon Airlines plane, arriving from Cologne, Germany, as it landed at Alanya-Gazipasa airport in Antalya, Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.
“All our relevant units were on the field and were on alert. Thank God, there were no injuries to the 184 passengers and 6 crew,” Uraloglu said on social media platform X, adding initial evaluations showed there was no damage to the runway, which was temporarily closed.
On Wednesday, Turkish authorities launched an investigation into a FedEx Airlines Boeing 767 cargo plane landing at Istanbul Airport without its front landing gear.
After Thursday’s incident, flights were diverted to the main Antalya airport and other nearby airports, the minister said.
Corendon said in a statement the plane halted safely on the runway after the tyre burst.
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Experts say burst tyres on landing are relatively common and typically require minor repairs, but can trigger a search for tyre debris or in some cases a passenger evacuation.
The plane involved, which has six wheels, is different from the larger 767 which made an emergency landing without its front landing gear on Wednesday. REUTERS
