Turkish Airlines plane evacuated after tyre fire in Kathmandu

Theherald · May 11, 2026 · 158 words · By Reuters Agency

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What to know about Turkish Airlines plane evacuated after tyre fire in Kathmandu

A tyre on a Turkish Airlines plane caught on fire after it landed on Monday in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, authorities said, forcing the closure of the airport for an hour.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

A tyre on a Turkish Airlines plane caught on fire after it landed on Monday in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, authorities said, forcing the closure of the airport for an hour.

Why it matters

All 277 passengers and 11 crew on the Airbus A330 arriving from Istanbul were evacuated using the emergency exits after the fire, and no-one was injured, Gyanendra Bhul, a Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson, told Reuters.

Common ground

“The fire broke out in the right rear tyre of the aircraft.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Turkish Airlines plane evacuated after tyre fire in Kathmandu?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that All 277 passengers and 11 crew on the Airbus A330 arriving from Istanbul were evacuated using the emergency exits?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theherald.co.za/news/world/2026-05-11-turkish-airlines-plane-evacuat…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 9

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Claim 1: “All 277 passengers and 11 crew on the Airbus A330 arriving from Istanbul were evacuated using the emergency exits”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the evacuation of passengers and crew via emergency exits from an Airbus A330 arriving from Istanbul. While there is a slight discrepancy in passenger count (277 vs 278), the core fact of the evacuation is corroborated.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Airbus A330 is a wide-body airliner developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus began developing larger A300 derivatives in the mid–1970s, giving rise to the A330 twinjet as well as the Airbus A340 q…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A330

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design, which was proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A350

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — China Airlines (CAL; Chinese: 中華航空; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Hángkōng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's three major ai…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “an additional flight has been planned for the return of the passengers”

CORROBORATED

Anadolu Ajansı reports that the airline announced an additional flight had been scheduled for the return leg of the passengers.

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Claim 3: “no-one was injured”

CORROBORATED

Reuters and other news reports explicitly state that nobody was injured during the evacuation.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 24 July 2024, a Bombardier CRJ200 operated by Saurya Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, killing 18 out of the 19 people on board. The a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Saurya_Airlines_Bombardie…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tribhuvan International Airport (Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल, romanized: Tribhuvan Antarrāṣṭriya Vimānasthal, IATA: KTM, ICAO: VNKT, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribhuvan_International_Airpor…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Turkish Airlines (Turkish: Türk Hava Yolları), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. As of June 2024, it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (includ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Airlines

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Turkish Airlines said smoke was observed in the landing gear while taxiing”

CORROBORATED

Anadolu Ajansı and other reports cite Turkish Airlines/authorities stating that smoke was observed in the landing gear during taxiing.

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web search NEUTRAL — Passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu were evacuated on Monday after smoke was detected in the aircraft’s landing gear while taxiing, the airline said.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkish-airlines-passe…

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web search NEUTRAL — “Smoke was observed emanating from the landing gear during taxiing, which was noticed by the air traffic controller and reported to the pilot,” Enes Çakmak, a leader of Turkey’s General Directorate of…
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/passengers-evacuated-smoke-spotted…

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web search NEUTRAL — "Smoke was observed emanating from the landing gear during taxiing, which was noticed by the air traffic controller and reported to the pilot," stated Enes Çakmak, who leads Turkey's General Directora…
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/panic-at-tu…

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Claim 5: “A tyre on a Turkish Airlines plane caught on fire after it landed on Monday in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Reuters and other news reports, confirm that a Turkish Airlines plane experienced a tyre fire after landing in Kathmandu on a Monday.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at 11:56 Nepal Stan…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_2015_Nepal_earthquake

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An earthquake struck Nepal at 11:56:25 NST on 25 April 2015 with a moment magnitude of 7.8 (or 8.1Ms) and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). It was the most powerful earthquake to strike Ne…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_response_to_the_A…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “Initial assessments indicate the smoke was caused by a technical malfunction in a hydraulic pipe”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Anadolu Ajansı, report that initial assessments attributed the smoke to a technical malfunction in a hydraulic pipe.

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web search NEUTRAL — “Initial examinations suggest the smoke was caused by a technical malfunction in a hydraulic pipe,” he said. The airline also announced that an additional flight had been scheduled for the return leg.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkish-airlines-passe…

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web search NEUTRAL — Initial technical inspection revealed that the smoke was caused by a malfunction in a hydraulic pipe.Thanks to their rapid and effective intervention, 247 passengers and 13 crew members were safely ev…
https://www.alanya-go.com/en/news/3717-the-moment-of-evacuat…

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web search NEUTRAL — An initial inspection of the aircraft showed that the smoke was caused by a malfunctioning hydraulic pipe, Ustun said. Technical checks are currently being carried out on the aircraft. |
https://www.bgnes.com/society/turkish-airlines-flight-is-eva…

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Claim 7: “forcing the closure of the airport for an hour”

CORROBORATED

Reuters reports the airport was closed for an hour, while another source specifies the shutdown lasted 98 minutes. Both confirm the closure due to the incident.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The fire was doused and the plane was towed to the taxiway. It is grounded”

CORROBORATED

Sources confirm the fire was doused, the plane was towed to the taxiway, and it was grounded.

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web search NEUTRAL — “The fire broke out in the right rear tyre of the aircraft... the fire was doused and the plane was towed to the taxiway... it is grounded,” Mr Bhul said. Turkish Airlines did not immediately respond …
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/turkish-airline…

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web search NEUTRAL — Information officer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Gyanendra Bhul said efforts were underway to tow the aircraft to the taxiway after the fire was brought under control.
https://anewz.tv/travel/travel-news/19988/turkish-airlines-p…

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web search NEUTRAL — The model of the airplane standing on the taxiway. After three minutes of such waiting for the air traffic controller asked, if the crew either is about to proceed with evacuation or wants to taxi tow…
https://airlive.net/history/2017/06/14/story-no-one-has-ever…

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Claim 9: “The fire broke out in the right rear tyre of the aircraft”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources specify that the fire occurred in the right rear tyre or right main landing gear.

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web search NEUTRAL — "The fire broke out in the right rear tyre of the aircraft...the fire was doused and the plane was towed to the taxiway...it is grounded," Bhul said. Turkish Airlines did not immediately respond to a …
https://www.aol.com/articles/fire-breaks-turkish-airlines-fl…

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web search NEUTRAL — Turkish Airlines fire incident. Wartime IEDs haunt villagers. Nepali racer in Gymkhana circuit.Preliminary information showed that a tyre on the aircraft’s right main landing gear had caught fire.
https://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/05/11/turkish-airlin…

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web search NEUTRAL — Turkish Airlines aircraft caught fire on right tyres during landing at Tribhuvan Airport, passengers evacuated safely."The aircraft with call sign TK726 was en route to Kathmandu from Istanbul, and th…
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/video-turkish-airlines-plane…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.