Turkish airlines plane skids off runway

onnaedo

March 4, 2015 4:54 PM

A passenger Deepak Malhotra said the Airbus A330's crew first tried landing the plane around 7 a.m. Wednesday getting very close to a runway but not touching down0

Tragedy nearly struck in Nepal's Kathmandu's airport,earlier today after a Turkish Airlines jet carrying 224 people skidded off a runway, CNN reports.

The incident forced those on board to evacuate effectively shutting down Nepal's lone international airport.

A passenger Deepak Malhotra said the Airbus A330's crew first tried landing the plane around 7 a.m. Wednesday getting very close to a runway but not touching down, that was followed by an announcement that the aircraft couldn't land due to poor visibility.

The crew tried again after about 45 minutes and this time, the plane did get on the ground instead it skidded off, screeching to a stop with its nose pitched down.

Pictures showed passengers and crew going down evacuation slides and walking through heavy fog.

Airline spokesmen reveal that despite the rough landing, no casualties were recorded. The incident however, knocked out air travel in and out of the Tribhuvan International Airport aspart of the now-immobile Airbus A330 was covering a section of the runway.

Thehead of the Civil Aviation Authority, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman revealed that Nepal doesn't have the heavy-duty machinery required to move it. Large cargo planes that could be brought in to help with the job have nowhere to land either.

Authorities are however exploring the possibility of flying in needed equipment to India and then driving it over to Nepal.

In the meantime, all international flights into Kathmandu have been called off until further notice.

onnaedo