Turkish aircraft under repairs after emergency landing at BIA

The Turkish Airlines plane which turned back and landed safely at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake owing to a technical failure in the landing gear mechanism of the plane is under repair.

The passengers who were safely transferred from the aircraft are now lodged in hotels close to the airport.

The flight departed from Katunayake at 10.00 p.m. on December 16 carrying 202 passengers and 10 crew members destined for Istanbul, Turkey. The airline operates an Airbus A330, which is French and is one of the world's largest passenger planes.

Minutes after take off, the pilot noticed that there was amiss with the retracting of the landing gears.

Thereafter, the plane was flown above the Chilaw sea with an altitude of 4,000 feet and a speed of 140 knots and it remained airborne for more than two hours. In order to reduce weight fuel had been burned off while maintaining only the required fuel to fly back to Katunayake. This was in keeping with the newly adopted environmental regulations that strictly prohibit fuel dumping into the sea.

Afterwards, at 12.27 a.m. on the 17th of December, the plane landed safely at the Katunayake International Airport.

As a precautionary step ambulances, fire engines, and medical and rescue teams, along with special rescue boats and teams for the Negombo lagoon were put on standby both within and around the airport.

However, the Sunday Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) Chairman Samantha Gunasekara denied reports that fuel had been spilled into the ocean.

By Nidarshani Wickramasinghe and T.K.G. Kapila