Boeing cargo plane lands in Istanbul without front wheels, no casualties

Istanbul: A FedEx Airlines Boeing 767 cargo plane landed at Istanbul Airport on Wednesday without deploying its front landing gear but managed to stay on the runway and avoided casualties, Turkey's transport ministry said.

The aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, informed the control tower at Istanbul Airport that its landing gear had failed to open, and landed with guidance from the tower, the ministry said in its statement.

Airport rescue and fire fighting teams were scrambled before landing, but no one was injured. The ministry gave no reason for the failure.

The aircraft involved is a nearly 10-year-old Boeing 767 freighter, one of the most common cargo planes and based on the 767 passenger model dating back to the 1980s.

FedEx said in a statement it was coordinating with investigation authorities and would "provide additional information as it is available".

Video footage obtained by Reuters showed sparks flying and some smoke as the front of the plane scraped along the runway before coming to a halt and being doused with firefighting foam.

The runway was temporarily closed to air traffic, but other runways at the airport were still operating normally, the airport operator IGA said.

Manufacturers are not typically involved in the operation or maintenance of jets once they enter service, but Boeing has been under intense media and regulatory scrutiny following a series of incidents on its smaller 737.

The US planemaker could not immediately be reached for comment.