The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said in a statement that a Saudi Airlines flight from Riyadh caught fire upon landing at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport on Thursday, forcing a quick evacuation of all passengers and crew members to safety.
On Thursday, while the Saudi Airline aircraft was landing at Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, a fire broke out in the aircraft. The fire began in the back end of airplane SV-792, which was traveling from Riyadh to Peshawar. As the airplane descended, the landing gear caught fire. Using the plane’s emergency exits, every passenger was safely evacuated.
The aircraft’s left landing gear was spewing smoke and sparks, which the Peshawar Airport’s air traffic controller (ATC) observed. The pilot was informed right away by the ATC. Officials from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requested fire and rescue assistance. In a short amount of time, the firefighters contained the fire.
Via an inflatable slide, the 276 passengers and 21 crew members left the aircraft. Due to the Saudi plane’s proximity to the runway, Peshawar Airport was closed to aircraft. According to sources, by Friday morning the runway will be cleared, and by 10:00 am the airport will reopen for operations.
The statement stated that as soon as CAA fire trucks arrived on the scene, the flames consuming the landing gear were put out.
“The fire tenders acted in time and immediately controlled the fire in the landing gear, saving the aircraft from a major accident,” Saifullah stated.
“All 276 passengers and 21 crew members were safely evacuated with an inflatable slide.” Airport officials in Peshawar state that the airport is operational and that all flights would proceed according to schedule.
