Boeing 767 landing gear: FedEx cargo plane lands at Istanbul Airport with no front wheels in latest safety incident

A Boeing cargo plane was forced to land at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear on Wednesday (8 May). the latest setback for the embattled planemaker. The Boeing 767 aircraft, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, informed the traffic control tower at Istanbul airport that its landing gear had failed to open and it landed with guidance from the tower,  Turkey’s transport ministry said.

The flight was operated by the delivery company FedEx and nobody was hurt in the incident. Emergency services were standing by for the landing. 

The ministry did not give a reason for the landing gear’s failure and said its teams were conducting examinations at the scene as part of an investigation. Video of the incident shows the plane’s back wheels touching down with sparks and smoke streaming from its underside. The plane then skids to a halt, remaining on the runway.

The incident comes at a time when Boeing’s is under intense scrutiny after multiple safety issues.  A Boeing quality engineer, Sam Salehpour, has called on Boeing to ground its 787 Dreamliner planes as he says the planes could fall apart and “drop to the ground” mid flight unless the alleged safety problems are addressed.

He said the company has yet to properly address tiny nonconforming gaps found in multiple planes after two sections of their fuselages were joined together during assembly. He added that such “safety issues” could lead to catastrophic outcomes. When asked if he would put his own family on a 787 right now, he said: “Right now, I would not.”

Salehpour flagged the issue to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in January, and the agency has said it is investigating his claims. Salehpour, who has worked for Boeing for 15 years, said that after he raised concerns internally, Boeing transferred him to work on the 777 line in 2022. 

Boeing has been trying to reassure customers after a catastrophic incident on 5 January which saw a door panel blow out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max plane in mid-air. Boeing declined to comment on Wednesday’s incident.