PESHAWAR: A Saudi Airlines plane flying from Riyadh to the Pakistani city of Peshawar caught fire in its landing gear as it landed at Peshawar airport on Thursday, but around 300 passengers were lucky to escape, airport authorities said.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the fire broke out when the plane landed at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport, Dawn reported.
CAA spokesman Saifullah said air traffic controllers saw smoke and sparks coming from the plane’s left landing gear as it landed and warned the pilot.
At the same time, the airport’s fire and rescue team was notified.
According to the statement, CAA firefighting vehicles arrived at the scene and were able to extinguish the flames which had engulfed the landing gear.
“Firefighters acted in time and quickly extinguished the fire in the landing gear, saving the aircraft from a major accident,” Seifullah said.
“All 276 passengers and 21 crew members were safely evacuated via inflatable slides.”
Peshawar airport officials said the airport was operational and all flights would operate as scheduled.
According to sources, the Air Accident Investigation Board is taking note of the incident and an investigation team will soon begin looking into the incident. GeoNews report.
Published July 11, 2024 12:14 IST
