A Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx was forced to land at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear. This is the latest setback in a series of operational failures for the plane maker as it fends off intense scrutiny following whistleblower comments on its manufacturing safety.
The Boeing 767 plane, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport today, Wednesday, May 8th, informed the traffic control tower at Istanbul airport that its landing gear had failed to open, forcing it to land with guidance from the tower, Turkey’s transport ministry said.
Emergency services were on the ground as the aircraft came to land. The ministry did not give a reason for the landing gear’s failure and said its teams were conducting assessments at the scene as part of an investigation.
A Boeing 767 cargo plane crash-landed at Istanbul airport with a loose landing gear
The plane belonging to the American postal company Fedex was on a flight from Paris. It landed only at the second attempt and "pecked" its nose into the runway. There were no casualties. pic.twitter.com/d1OsgUrxVq
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 8, 2024
Video of the landing shows the aircraft’s back wheels touching down, followed by its fuselage, with sparks and smoke pouring from its underside. The plane then skids to a halt, remaining on the runway.
The runway has been temporarily shut to air traffic. However, traffic on the other runways at the airport continued without interruption, the airport operator IGA told The Guardian.
Boeing’s poor safety record
The incident comes at a time when Boeing’s safety record is under intense scrutiny following a series of crises and safety issues.
On Tuesday, Boeing said it had informed regulators about possible failures to carry out mandatory safety inspections on its 787 Dreamliner planes. The US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, said it was “investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records.”
This followed separate allegations by a whistleblowing engineer that Boeing took shortcuts to reduce production bottlenecks while making the 787. The US manufacturer promised to improve its safety culture this year after a door panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max plane in mid-air in January.
Boeing had been attempting to speed up production of the 737 Max, its bestselling model, to move past the crisis triggered by two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019. 737 Max aircraft were grounded worldwide for the best part of two years.
Nobody was hurt in this most recent incident on a flight operated by the delivery company FedEx, according to Turkey’s transport ministry.
Engineer Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer and safety whistleblower, alleges the company took shortcuts when building its 777 and 787 Dreamliner jets. According to Salehpour, the risks become more pronounced as the airplanes age. The New York Times first reported the whistleblower statement. However, Boeing said claims were “inaccurate” and was confident its planes were safe.
“The issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight,” the company told the BBC, adding: “This analysis has validated that these issues do not present any safety concerns and the aircraft will maintain its service life over several decades.”
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