Boeing 767 Belly Landing in Istanbul
Amid a series of aircraft accidents involving Boeing in the United States, this time a FedEx-operated Boeing 767 cargo plane made a belly landing on the runway due to a landing gear malfunction.
On the 8th (local time), the Turkish Ministry of Transport announced that the FedEx Boeing 767 cargo plane attempting to land at Istanbul International Airport that morning requested emergency landing clearance from the control tower because the nose wheel did not deploy. When the nose wheel ultimately failed to come down, the cargo plane made a belly landing on the runway.
On the 8th (local time), a FedEx Boeing 767 cargo plane makes a belly landing at Istanbul International Airport. [Image provided by the Ministry of Transport of T?rkiye]
Footage of the incident shows the cargo plane beginning its landing on the rear wheels only, and shortly after, the front part of the aircraft scraped the runway, producing sparks and smoke. Fortunately, the cargo plane completed the belly landing safely, and the two pilots were reported to be unharmed. Istanbul International Airport has temporarily closed runway 16R, where the belly landing occurred, and is currently conducting repair work.
This is not the first time Boeing aircraft have encountered problems. On the 26th of last month, a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 passenger plane departing from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) en route to Los Angeles had an emergency return shortly after takeoff when the emergency evacuation slide on the right side of the cabin detached. At that time, there were 176 passengers, 2 pilots, and 5 crew members on board, and no casualties were reported.
Earlier, on January 5th, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger plane that took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon made an emergency landing after part of a window and wall were torn off while flying at about 5,000 meters altitude. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) estimated that four bolts securing the door during aircraft assembly were missing.
Meanwhile, a Boeing whistleblower raised safety concerns about the 787 model. Sam Salepour, an engineer who worked at Boeing for 17 years, testified at a U.S. Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in April that he had mainly focused on the 787 model during his tenure and raised safety concerns.
However, he stated that the company responded to his safety concerns with pressure and retaliation. He revealed that despite repeatedly raising manufacturing issues, he was told to "shut up." Salepour said, "I was ignored and told not to delay work," adding, "Being threatened for raising issues is not a safe culture."
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