The Boeing pilot tried to perform an emergency landing after finding out that his landing gear had failed
A cargo plane smashed its nose into the runway at an airport in Turkey while trying to perform an emergency landing.
The Boeing 767 was operated by FedEx, the American postal service, and was en route to Istanbul from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport this morning (Wednesday 8 May).
The crash caused sparks to fly from the destroyed area of the plane’s body, as smoke started to fill the air behind the wreckage.
It was a horrific incident, though firefighters and rescue teams were waiting at the scene, after Turkey’s transport ministry were informed that the pilot’s landing gear wasn’t working and dispatched emergency teams.
They surrounded the plane as it came to a halt, spraying the plane with firefighting foam to prevent any potential fire from sparking.
The plane’s nose dragged along the tarmac. (IGA Istanbul Airport)
Luckily, nobody was injured onboard, as the crew safely evacuated the aircraft following the incident, according to Turkey’s transportation and infrastructure minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu.
He stated that the runway where the plane crash-landed was closed off as the aircraft was being removed, also saying in a statement: “IGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and ARFF continues its efforts to move the aircraft to a safe area and open the runway to flight traffic.
“Flight traffic and operations continue smoothly on all other runways, including the spare runways.”
The accident isn’t good news for Boeing though, who are already under the microscope following a number of technical mishaps and controversial safety concerns.
As well as safety problems, suspected quality control issues and whistleblowers’ allegations of falsified records on Boeing 787 planes by workers at a South Carolina plant.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has since, opened an investigation into the company following these events.
Luckily, nobody onboard was injured. (IGA Istanbul Airport)
Scott Stocker, the lead of the 787 program, issued an email to Boeing’s South Carolina employees saying that a worker observed an ‘irregularity’ in a routine test, and reported it to his manager.
The email read: “After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed.”
No planes have been taken out of service since then, but Boeing will now need to create a plan to address planes that are already flying, with new regulations in place for planes currently being read.
A statement from the FAA read: “The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.”
Boeing has denied allegations of safety issues with the 787.
LADbible has contacted Boeing for a comment.
Featured Image Credit: IGA Istanbul Airport
