One of US express carrier FedEx’s Boeing 767-300ER freighters has been involved in a landing incident at Istanbul after its nose-gear failed to deploy.
The aircraft was operating flight FX6238 from Paris Charles de Gaulle on 8 May.
Istanbul airport’s operator states that the twinjet experienced a “technical issue” which resulted in the nose-gear remaining retracted.
But the aircraft touched down safely on runway 16R at about 08:17, having made two previous missed approaches.
“Immediately after the controlled landing upon the fuselage, the [situation] was brought under control by Istanbul airport rescue and firefighting teams, without any injuries or loss of life,” the operator adds.
It states that personnel are working to remove the 767 from the closed runway and restore routine flight operations. Other air traffic remains unaffected, it adds.
“After the pilot reported that the forward landing-gear was not deployed, he was immediately contacted by the tower,” says transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu.
He says that, after the nose-gear was confirmed not to have deployed, the airport’s authorities readied emergency response and medical teams.
Both pilots evacuated the aircraft and neither was injured, he states. The runway has been closed until 15:00.
“Our necessary technical investigations continue,” says Uraloglu.
Preliminary information from the scene indicates the aircraft involved is N110FE, a General Electric CF6-powered jet delivered new to FedEx in 2014.
