Small Fire Quickly Put Out, No Reported Casualties

An Egyptian airliner made a tense emergency landing in Istanbul Thursday, after a problem was discovered with the MD-82's landing gear.

Reuters reports the pilot of the AMC Airlines charter flight from Egypt to Warsaw, Poland requested to land in Istanbul due to mechanical problems.

The aircraft apparently made a belly landing, according to conflicting news reports. It was not immediately clear whether the landing gear problem was the original issue discovered by the crew, or if it was an additional problem discovered while the aircraft was approaching to land.

Istanbul Deputy Governor Mehmet Ali Ulutas told Turkey's Anatolian news agency the aircraft caught fire as it overshot the runway at Ataturk International. The small fire was quickly extinguished, and there were no reported casualties among the 156 passengers and seven crew onboard.

"It will be difficult to remove the plane from the runway. The plane will probably have to be dismantled," Ulutas said.

FMI: www.amcairlines.net