Turkish Airlines Plane Catches Fire; Makes Emergency Landing

Apr 26, 2015 05:07 AM EDT

(Photo : Reuters) Travelers return to their plane after it was forced to land in Morocco due to a bomb threat at the airport of Casablanca, Morocco, March 30, 2015. The Turkish Airlines flight heading for Brazil was forced by a bomb threat to land in Morocco for more than three hours on Monday, but was cleared to fly on after no explosives were found. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

An engine of a Turkish Airlines jet caught fire on Saturday on its trip from Milan to Istanbul, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing at the Ataturk Airport in Turkey.

Arrive.net reports that pilot tried to land again after the plane's departure from Milan, but its landing gear on the right side collapsed, resulting in the pilot aborting the landing. Flames were seen as the jet circled in the sky.

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The 97 passengers of Flight TK#1878 were safely evacuated from the burning jet, according to Ali Genc, spokesman of Turkish Airlines. Airport authorities temporarily closed the Ataturk Airport and diverted arriving planes to the Sabiha Gokcen Airport which is on the Asian side.

The air carrier had been involved in air mishaps lately. On Thursday, the cockpit window of the same aircraft broke while flying to Istanbul from Frankfurt, reports Dogan news agency. In early April, engine fire also forced the emergency landing of another Turkish Airlines jet, reports News.com.au.

On March 30, a Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 plane with 256 people aboard bound for Sao Paulo, Brazil, made an emergency landing in Casablanca, Morocco, after a note with the word "bomb" was found inside the toilet, Daily Mail reports.

Two days after, Turkish Airlines Flight TK-52 to Tokyo from Istanbul also made an emergency landing after the words "C4-Cargo" was found in a note also in the toilet. C4 means plastic explosive.

Genc said that the company is now investigating the incident.