A Turkish Airlines flight leaving Cape Town for Istanbul had to be diverted to OR Tambo International Airport after experiencing technical challenges shortly after take-off from Cape Town.
According to several aviation industry sources the aircraft encountered problems with its landing gear.
It is believed that shortly after take-off pilots had problems retracting the gear, however Turkish Airlines has yet to confirm the incident.
Happening now: Turkish Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 (TC-JNI, 9 years old) is in a holding pattern, 45 minutes after taking off from Cape Town bound for Istanbul, flight TK45. One ground observer said the nose gear didn’t retract. @flightradar24 pic.twitter.com/2oN3BZBz9h
— Aeronews (@AeronewsGlobal) January 2, 2020
The aircraft had to circle Robben Island four 2 hours to burn off fuel and obtain an appropriated landing weight.
After being in a holding pattern for two hours above Robben Island, the flight diverted to Johannesburg, where it landed safely.
Can’t get over how cool it is to be able to track this live and to see all the support/emergency vehicles trailing. Well done to the pilots on a safe landing 👏 #TK45 #TurkishAirlines #ORTambo pic.twitter.com/hZTeWYYk5p
— Karin Mitchell (@write_kmitchell) January 2, 2020
The aircraft landed in Johannesburg four hours after its departure from Cape Town.
There were no casualties or fatalities reported form this incident .
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