A Turkish Airlines passenger aircraft en route from Kathmandu to Istanbul reported a fire in its right engine shortly after take off on Wednesday afternoon, prompting emergency procedures at Tribhuvan International Airport in the Nepali capital, airport officials confirmed.
The aircraft, operating flight number THY 727, took off at 13:28 local time and developed the problem within 4 minutes of departure. Teknath Sitaula, General Manager of Tribhuvan International Airport, told ANI that the right engine caught fire soon after take off, following which the pilots diverted the aircraft west of Kathmandu and shut down the affected engine.
According to airport officials, the aircraft was held in the air for about 10 minutes as the crew assessed the situation. Tribhuvan International Airport was temporarily closed for around 15 minutes as a precaution after the engine fire was reported.
The wide-body Airbus A330 303 aircraft was carrying 225 passengers, while there were 11 crew members on board, taking the total number of people on the flight to 236, according to the Kathmandu Post.
The flight later made a full emergency landing at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata. The Captain informed Kolkata Air Traffic Control about a possible fire in the right engine before landing. The aircraft touched down safely at 14:49 hours with all 236 passengers and crew on board.
The aircraft is currently parked at Kolkata airport, where a detailed technical inspection is underway. The Airport Director of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport said the situation is being closely monitored by airport authorities.
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