Turkey launches probe after Boeing plane lands without front landing gear

Boeing 767 cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport without its front landing gear, says a transport ministry official.

A Boeing 767 cargo plane has landed at Istanbul Airport without its front landing gear, a Turkish Transport Ministry official said.

The official said there were no casualties and authorities had launched an investigation, the Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday.

A video on social media showed the Boeing 767 belonging to FedEx Express using the back landing gear and then dipping its nose with the front portion of the fuselage.

The plane was on the last leg of its flight from Paris to Istanbul when the pilots realised the front landing gear failed to open, state-run news agency Anadolu said.

The aircraft informed the control tower in Istanbul that its landing gear had failed to open and touched down with guidance from the tower, managing to remain on the runway, a ministry statement said.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams were scrambled before landing, but there were no reported injuries.

It was not clear why the failure occurred.

The aircraft involved is a nearly 10-year-old Boeing 767 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes and based on the 767 passenger model dating back to the 1980s.

An official from Turkey’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of the continuing investigation.

FedEx said in a statement it was coordinating with investigation authorities and would “provide additional information as it is available”.

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but other runways at Istanbul airport were still operating normally, the airport operator IGA said.

Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of jets once they enter service, but Boeing has been under intense media and regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents involving its 737s.