A Boeing MD-83 passenger aircraft made an emergency landing in
Turkey on Thursday and caught fire on landing but there were
reportedly no casualties.
Various news reports from Turkey say the MD-83 operated by Egyptian
carrier AMC Airlines was en route from Hurghada in Egypt to Warsaw
when it encountered a technical problem and the captain requested
to divert to an airport in Turkey.
When it made its emergency at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, the
landing gear failed which meant the underside of the aircraft
fuselage scraped along the runway and the aircraft caught
fire.
Reports say there were no fatalities and only one of the 163 people
on board was injured but the damage to the aircraft was
extensive.
According to Flights ACAS database AMC Airlines only has one MD-83
left in its fleet, registered as SU-BOY, and the aircrafts owner
is AWAS.
AMC is a charter operator in Egypt that mostly transports tourists
to resort towns. Hurghada, the town where the MD-83 reportedly took
off from, is a resort town in Egypt near the Red Sea.
The carrier used to operate more MD-83s but has recently been
replacing these older aircraft with new Boeing 737-800s. In late
August it received its second 737-800, an aircraft on lease from GE
Commercial Aviation Services.
