The Turkish Airlines aircraft that carried out a safe emergency landing at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, last night departed Sri Lanka this evening after completing the required repairs.
The Airbus A330-300, operating as Flight TK-733 to Istanbul, was forced to return to BIA shortly after takeoff when a technical malfunction was detected on board. The issue occurred when the aircraft’s landing gear failed to retract properly, prompting the crew to declare an emergency.
As the flight was bound for Istanbul—a journey of over eight and a half hours—the aircraft was carrying a heavy fuel load, making an immediate landing unsafe. Moreover, certain Airbus A330-300 aircraft are not equipped with fuel-jettisoning capability.
In line with standard safety procedures, the pilots circled in controlled airspace to burn off excess fuel and reduce the aircraft’s weight to a safe landing level. Meanwhile, all emergency arrangements were put in place at BIA.
At around 12:30 a.m., the aircraft made a successful emergency landing and came to a complete stop at the designated point on the runway.
Owing to the timely and precautionary actions taken by the flight crew, all 222 passengers and crew members were unharmed.
RS
