A Turkish Airlines flight was evacuated via emergency slides on Tuesday shortly after the aircraft landed at a coastal resort in southern Turkey. The plane’s evacuation was prompted by smoke in the landing gear, the company said.
Smoke appeared while the Boeing 777 from Istanbul was taxiing on the runway at the airport in the popular resort city of Antalya. Emergency response teams recommended the evacuation as a precautionary measure to ensure passenger safety, airline spokesperson Yahya Ustun said on X.
All passengers were “promptly” evacuated, Mr Ustun added, and there were no injuries.
An unverified clip widely circulating on social media shows some passengers running away from the aircraft, while others were walking near the deployed slides.
His statement, translated from Turkish, read: “Following a normal landing on the runway, our Boeing 777, registered TC-LKF, operating flight TK2430 from Istanbul to Antalya, observed smoke on the landing gear on the taxiway.”
Slides were deployed “as a precaution”, he continued, and passengers evacuated in line with the advice provided by the fire department responding to the incident.
He added: “Passengers were evacuated promptly, and there were no injuries.
“An additional flight has been planned for the return flight, and our authorised teams have initiated a technical inspection of the aircraft.”
An initial inspection of the plane indicated that the smoke originated from a hydraulic pipe malfunction, Mr Ustun said.