ISTANBUL
A Turkish Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Istanbul on Saturday, an airline official said.
The Airbus A320 was coming in to land at Ataturk International Airport when the pilot noticed an engine fire. The pilot abandoned the initial approach before coming in to land at the second attempt.
Footage on the Hurriyet newspaper’s website showed the aircraft landing on the runway with flames and smoke pouring from its right side.
The flight from Milan skidded off the runway before coming to a halt on a grass verge. Firefighting crews rushed to the scene and hosed down the fuselage as passengers escaped down the plane’s emergency slides.
Airline spokesman Ali Genc said all 97 passengers safely evacuated the plane following the 10.41 a.m. (0841GMT) landing.
The fire was extinguished and the aircraft is being examined.
