A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying 290 passengers experienced an engine fire shortly after departing from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Tuesday morning.
The flight, TK-713 (Airbus A330-303) bound for Istanbul, Turkey, took off at around 7am. Approximately 15 minutes after takeoff, the pilot noticed sparks in one of the plane’s two engines and immediately decided to return. The aircraft circled for about 90 minutes before making an emergency landing at 8:15am.
Executive Director of Shahjalal International Airport Captain SM Rageeb Samad told reporters that the pilot observed sparks in one engine shortly after takeoff, possibly due to a bird strike. The pilot promptly decided to return, and all passengers remained safe.
Airport sources confirmed that passengers were safely disembarked, and the airline authorities were arranging hotel accommodations for them.
In a related incident, on May 16, a Bangladesh Biman flight from Cox’s Bazar International Airport lost its left-side landing gear wheel mid-air. Thanks to the pilot’s skill, the plane landed safely with all 71 passengers unharmed.