Plane with 238 passengers skids off runway, all safe

Kathmandu: Nearly 240 people on board a Turkish Airlines jet had a lucky escape when the plane missed the runway while landing in dense fog and skidded onto nearby grassland at Nepal's only international airport here on Wednesday morning.

The Airbus A330 flying from Istanbul skidded off after it overshot the runway at the Tribhuvan International Airport as it missed the centre of the landing strip.

The incident led to temporary closure of the airport, affecting many flights. There were 227 passengers and 11 crew members in the aircraft and all were safely evacuated from the emergency door without any injuries, airport authorities said.

The flight had both Nepalese and foreigners on board.

Turkish Airlines Flight 726 missed the runway central alignment and landed in between the runway and taxiway that forced the aircraft to skid onto the grassy patch. The incident happened at around 7:40 am (local time) after the aircraft failed to land initially, taking a circle in the sky before finally touching down. Bad weather conditions and poor visibility were said to be the main reasons for the incident. However, the exact cause was being investigated, spokesperson of the airport Purna Chudal said.

The front wheel and nose of the aircraft were slightly damaged after landing.